!THE  GREAT  WAR 

1914  -  IQ 19 

THOMAS  H.RUSSELL, AM, LLD. 

THE   OFFICIAL   STORY  OF  AMERICAN 
OPERATIONS  IN  FRANCE 

^r  GENERAL  JOHN  J.PERSHING 

AND  SPECIAL  CHAPTERS  BY 

HON.  JAMES  MARTIN  MILLER 

FORMER  U.S.  CONSUL  TO  FRANCE 


(V)    Uudciwood   &    Underwood 


The  Great 


A  Pictorial  History  of  the  1914-1919  Fight 
for  Freedom  and  Liberty 

by 
THOMAS  H.  RUSSELL,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

Member  American  Histcriciil  Association 


THE  OFFICIAL  STORY  OF  AMERICAN 
OPERATIONS  IN  FRANCE 

by 
GENERAL  JOHN  PERSHING 

Commander-in-Chief 


WILLIAM  DUNSEATH  EATON 

Contributing  Editor 
Author  "The  War  in  Verse  and  Prose,"  "A  Soldier  of  Navarre,"  etc. 

Special  Chapters  by 

HON.  JAMES  MARTIN   MILLER 

Former  United  Stated  Consul  to  France 
Author  "Spanish- American  War,"  "Russian-Japanese  War,"  etc. 


OFFICIAL  COPYRIGHTED  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
TFIE  CHRISTIAN  HERALD 

1919 


DEDICATION 

To  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada;  to  the  men  of  the  armies 
and  navies  of  nations  allied  with  us;  to  the 
splendid  courage  and  devotion  of  American, 
French,  British  and  Belgian  women,  who  have 
endured  in  silence  the  pain  of  losses  worse 
than  death,  and  never  faltered  in  works  of 
mercy  for  which  no  thanks  can  ever  pay;  to 
all  the  agencies  of  good  that  have  helped 
save  civilization  and  the  w^orld  from  the  most 
dreadful  menace  of  all  time,  this  volume  is 
dedicated. 


Copyright,  1919 
by  L.  H.  Walter 


J) 

52% 

h'  ■'  PREFACE 

With  the  signing  of  an  armistice  November  11,  1918,  by  the  pleni- 
potentiaries of  the  nations  at  war,  active  hostilities  were  halted  while 
the  sweeping  terms  of  the  truce  were  being  complied  with  by  Ger- 
many. The  collapse  of  the  Teutonic  forces  came  with  a  suddenness 
that  was  surprising,  and  the  collapse  was  complete.  The  German 
army  and  na\y  ceased  to  be  a  menace  to  the  civilized  world — and  all 
civilization  rejoiced  with  an  exceeding  great  joy. 

Remarkable  events  in  the  world's  history  followed  with  amazing 
rapidity,  and  are  duly  recorded  in  all  their  interesting  details  in 
these  pages.  The  flight  and  abdication  of  the  Kaiser;  the  abject  sur- 
render of  the  German  high  seas  fleet  and  submarines  to  the  British 
Grand  Fleet  and  its  American  associates;  the  withdrawal  of  the  de- 
feated German  armies  from  Belgium  and  France;  the  return  of  the 
French  flag  to  Alsace  and  Lorraine;  the  occupation  of  Metz,  Strass- 
burg,  Cologne,  and  Coblentz  by  Allied  and  American  forces,  and  the 
memorable  entry  of  Belgian  troops  as  conquerors  into  Aix-la-Chapelle 
(Aachen)  ;  the  sailing  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  take 
part  in  the  Peace  Conference — all  these  events  and  many  others  form 
part  of  the  marvelous  record  of  the  recent  past,  furnishing  material 
that  has  never  been  equaled  for  the  use  of  the  historian. 

Now  the  eyes  of  all  America  are  turned  to  the  eastern  horizon, 
and  would  fain  scan  the  wide  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  on  the  watch 
for  the  home-coming  heroes  of  the  great  conflict.  A  million  young 
Americans  are  coming  home — but  a  million  more  will  stay  abroad 
awhile,  to  safeguard  the  fruits  of  victory  and  insure  the  safety  of  the 
world.  Truly  the  story  of  their  achievements,  in  permanent  form, 
should  find  a  place  in  every  American  home,  for  in  the  words  of  Gen- 
eral Pershing,  their  great  commander : 

"Their  deeds  are  immortal  and  they  have  earned  the  eternal 
gratitude  of  their  country." 

T.  H.  R. 


To  the  honor  of  those  nations  upon  whom  the  laurel  of 
victory  has  descended.  To  those  who  have  vouchsafed 
for  us  the  permanence  of  the  higher  ideals  of  humanity  and 
civilization. 

To  those  who  have  sheltered  posterity  from  the  dominance 
of  barbarity,  brutality,  serfdom,  bigotry  and  degradation. 

To  those  who  have  striven  against  the  Teuton  and  the 
Turk  that  God-given  and  God-ordained  freedom  may  triumph. 

To  those  noble  stoics  of  Belgium,  of  France,  of  Serbia,  of 
Roumania,  of  Poland  and  ail  other  peoples  who  have  felt  the 
mailed  fist  of  the  ruthless  oppressor;  who  have  looked  upon 
their  devastated  fields,  their  dism.antled  cathedrals,  their  vio- 
lated hearth-stones  and  the  desecrated  graves  of  their  kindred, 
and  that  peace,  tranquillity,  contentment  and  prosperity  may 
again  be  restored  to  them  in  bounteous  meed. 

To  those  heroes  who  by  their  valor,  their  vigor  and  their 
inspired  devotion  to  right  and  patriotism  have  so  nobly  fought 
and  conquered. 

To  those  martyrs  whom  God  in  his  immutable  manifesta- 
tions has  chosen  for  the  ultimate  sacrifice  of  their  lives  upon 
the  altar  of  freedom  and  humanity's  cause. 

In  honor  to  these  who  have  attained  this  glorious  victory. 
In  honor  to  the  commingling  flags  of  the  allied  nations  reflect- 
ing in  their  rainbov/  hues  a  covenant  of  everlasting  peace  in 
this  their  hour  of  triumph,  may  we  all  consecrate  our  purposes 
and  our  lives  to  a  brotherhood  of  mankind,  a  spirit  of  broadest 
humanity  and  universcil  peace  on  earth. 

— /.  J.  Robinson. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

PBEsroENT  Wilson's  War  Message , 11 

I.    Why  We  Went  to  War 17 

Eeview  of  America's  Good  Keasons  for  Fighting^^-Memories  of 
Beautiful  France — Why  I  Was  Not  Accepted  aa  Consul  to 
Grermany — Why  We  Went  to  War — Work  or  Fignt — Eationlng 
the  Nations,  by  Hon.  James  Martin  Miller,  Former  U.  S.  Con- 
sul to  France — What  the  Yankee  Dude '11  Do. 

II.    United  States  Enters  the  War 25 

The  President  Proclaims  War  —  Interned  Ships  Are  Siezed — 
Congress  Votes  $7,000,000,000  for  War  —  Enthusiasm  in  the 
United  States — Eaising  an  American  Army — War  to  Victory, 
Wilson  Pledge  —  British  and  French  Commission  Beaches 
America — ^American  Troops  in  France. 

ni.    Americans  at  Chateau  Thierry 77 

Personal  Accounts  of  Battle  —  Gas  and  Shell  Shock  —  Marines 
Under  Fire — Americans  Can  Fight  and  Yell — Getting  to  the 
Front  Under  Difficulties  —  The  Big  Day  Dawns  — The  Shells 
Come  Fast — A  Funeral  at  the  Front — Impression  of  a  French 
Lieutenant — Keeping  the  Germans  on  the  Eun. 

IV.    American  Victory  at  St.  Mihiel ,..„.  86 

First  Major  Action  by  All  American  Army  —  Stories  to  Folks 
Back  Home — Huns  Carry  Off  Captive  Women — Hell  Has  Cut 
Loose — Major  Tells  His  Story — Enormous  Numbers  of  Guns 
and  Tanks — Over  the  Top  at  5:30  A.  M. — Texas  and  Okla- 
homa Troops  Fight  in  True  Eanger  Style — Our  Colored  Boys 
Win  Credit. 

y.    The  War  in  the  Air 94 

Air  Craft  —  Liberty  Motors  and  Air  Service  —  The  Dangers  of 
Aviation — Air  Plane's  Tail  Shot  Off — Champions  of  the  Air — • 
Lieut.  Lehr's  Personal  Stories  of  Air  Fighting  at  the  Front — 
American  Aviator  Grabs  Iron  Cross  as  Souvenir — Eyes  of  the 
Army  Always  Open.  ' 

VI.     Causes  of  the  World  War  and  How  War  Was  Declared..103 
VII.    Invasion  of  Belgium 113 

Belgians  Eush  to  Defense  of  Their  Frontier — Towns  Bombarded 
and  Burned — The  Defense  of  Liege — Destruction  of  Louvain — 
Fall  of  Namur — German  Proclamation  to  Inhabitants. 


CONTENTS 

chapter                                                                                            page 
Surrender  of  Brussels 119 

Belgian  Capital  Occupied  by  the  Germans  Without  Blood- 
shed— Important  Part  Played  by  American  Minister 
Brand  Whitlock — March  of  the  Kaiser's  Troops  Through 
the  City — Belgian  Forces  Eetreat  to  Antwerp — Dinant 
and  Termonde  Fall. 

VIII.    Britain  Raises  an  Army 127 

Earl  Kitchener  Appointed  Secretary  for  War — A  New  Volun- 
teer Army — Expeditionary  Force  Landed  in  France — 
Field  Marshal  Sir  John  French  in  Command — Colonies 
EaUy  to  Britain's  Aid — The  Canadian  Contingent — In- 
dian Troops  Called  For — Native  Princes  Offer  Aid. 

IX.     Early  Battles  of  the  War 137 

Belgian  Resistance  to  the  Grerman  Advance — The  Fighting 
at  Vise,  Haelen,  Diest,  Aerschot  and  Tirlemont — Mons 
and  Charleroi  the  First  Great  Battles  of  the  War — ^Allies 
Make  a  Gallant  Stand,  but  Forced  to  Eetire  Across  the 
French  Border. 

X.    German  Advance  on  Paris , . .  161 

Allies  Withdraw  for  Ten  Days,  Disputing  Every  Inch  of 
Ground  with  the  Kaiser's  Troops — Germans  Push  Their 
Way  Through  France  in  Three  Main  Columns — Official 
Eeports  of  the  Withdrawing  Engagements — Paris  Almost 
in  Sight. 

XI.     Battle  op  the  Marne 171 

German  Plans  Suddenly  Changed — Direction  of  Advance 
Swings  to  the  Southeast  When  Close  to  the  French  Capital 
— Successful  Eesistance  by  the  Allies — The  Prolonged 
Encounter  at  the  Marne — Germans  Eetreat,  with  Allies  in 
Hot  Pursuit  for  Many  Miles. 

Xn.    The  Russian  Campaign 192 

Slow  Mobilization  of  Troops — Invasion  of  German  and  Aus- 
trian Territory — Cossacks  Lead  the  Van — Early  Successes 
in  East  Prussia — *'0n  to  Berlin" — Heavy  Losses  In- 
flicted on  Austrians — German  Troops  Eushed  to  the  De- 
fense of  the  Eastern  Territory. 

XIII.     The  Austro- Servian  Campaign 214 

Declaration  of  War  by  Austria — Bombardment  of  Belgrade 
— Servian  Capital  Eemoved — Seasoned  Soldiers  of  Servia 
Give  a  Good  Account  of  Themselves — Many  Indecisive 
Engagements — Servians  in  Austrian  Territory. 

8 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB  PAGE 

XIV.     Stories  from  the  Battlefield 222 

Thrilling  Incidents  of  the  Great  War  Told  by  Actual 
Combatants — Personal  Experiences  from  the  Lips  of  Sur- 
vivors of  the  "World's  Bloodiest  Battles — Tales  of  Pris- 
oners of  War,  Wounded  Soldiers,  and  Kefugees  Eendered 
Homeless  in  the  Blighted  Arena  of  Conflict — Hand-to- 
Hand  Fighting — Frightful  Mortality  Among  OflBcers — 
How  It  Feels  to  Be  Wounded— In  the  '  *  Valley  of  Death ' ' 
— A  Belgian  Boy  Hero — A  British  Cavalry  Charge — 
Spirit  of  French  Women — In  the  Paris  Military  Hospital 
— German  Uhlans  as  Scouts — How  a  German  Prince  Died 
—Fearful  State  of  Battlefields. 

XV.     The  Mystery  of  the  Fleets 256 

Movements  of  British  Battleships  Veiled  in  Secrecy — Ger- 
man Dreadnoughts  in  North  Sea  and  Baltic  Ports — Activ- 
ity of  Smaller  Craft — English  Keep  Trade  Eoutes  Open 
—Several  Minor  Battles  at  Sea. 

XVI.     Submarines  and  Mines 269 

Battleships  in  Constant  Danger  from  Submerged  Craft — 
Opinions  of  Admiral  Sir  Percy  Scott — Construction  of 
,      Modern  Torpedoes — How  Mines  Are  Laid  and  Exploded 
on  Contact. 

XVII.     Aero-Military  Operations 275 

Aerial  Attacks  on  Cities — Some  of  the  Achievements  of  the 
Airmen  in  the  Great  War — Deeds  of  Heroism  and  Daring 
— Zeppelins  in  Action — Their  Construction  and  Oj)eration. 

XVIII.     Battle  of  the  Aisne 284 

Most  Prolonged  Encoimter  in  History  Between  Gigantic 
Forces — A  Far-Flung  Battle  Line — Germans  Face  French 
and  British  in  the  Aisne  Valley  and  Fight  for  Weeks — 
Armies  Deadlocked  After  a  Desperate  and  Bloody 
Struggle. 

XIX.     Fall  of  Antwerp 311 

Great  Seaport  of  Belgium  Besieged  by  a  Large  German 
Force — Forts  Battered  by  Heavy  Siege  Guns — Final  Sur- 
render of  the  City — Belgian  and  British  Defenders  Escape 
— Exodus  of  Inhabitants — Germans  Eeach  the  Sea. 

X^     The  Wounded  and  Prisoners 323 

Typical  Precautions  Used  by  the  German  Army — The  Sol- 
dier's    First-Aid    Outfit — System    in    Hospital    Arrange- 
ments— How  Prisoners  of  War  Are  Treated — Kegulations 
Are  Humane  and  Fair  to  AU  Concerned. 
9 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI.      HORROES  OF  THE  WaR 331 

Plan  to  Send  Santa  Claus  Gifts  From  America  to  "War- 
Stricken  Children  of  Europe — A  Widespread  Response — 
Movement  Indorsed  by  Press,  Pulpit  and  Leading  Citizens 
— Approved  by  Governments  of  Contending  Nations. 

XXII.    Later  Events  of  the  War 338 

Results  of  the  Battle  of   the  Rivers — Fierce  Fighting  in 
Northern  France — Developments  on  the  Eastern  Battle 
Front — The  Campaign  in  the  Pacific — ^Naval  Activities  of 
the  Powers. 

XXIII.  Sinking  of  the  Lusitania 380 

Torpedoed  by  a  Submarine — Crisis  in  German-American 
Relations — The  Diplomatic  Exchanges. 

XXIV.  A  Summer  of  Slaughter 382 

Submarine  Activities — Horrors  in  Serbia — Bloody  Battles 
East  and  West — Italy  Declares  War  and  Invades  Austria 
— ^Russians  Pushed  Back  in  Galicia, 

XXV.  Second  Winter  of  the  War 397 

XXVI.  Climax  of  the  War .^  404 

XXVII.  World's  Greatest  Sea  Fight 420 

XXVni.  Battles  East  and  West 428 

XXIX.     Continuation  of  War  in  1917 452 

XXX.     General  Pershing's  Own  Story 461 

XXXI.     When  the  Days  of  Reckoning  Dawned 469 

XXXII.     Home  Follows  the  Flag 484 

XXXIII.  Terms  of  the  Armistice 489 

XXXIV.  Honor  to  the  Victors 497 

XXXV.     Chronology  of  the  World  War 507-514 

10 


INTRODUCTION 

PRESIDENT  WILSON'S   EPOCHAL  ADDRESS 


Calling  for  Action  Against  Germany,  Delivered  by  Him  to  the  Congress  in 

Extraordinary  Session,  April  3,  1917 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Congress:  I  have  called  the  congress  into  extraordi- 
nary session  because  there  are  serious,  very  serious,  choices  of  policy  to  be 
made,  and  made  immediately,  whici  it  was  neither  right  nor  constitutionally 
permissible  that  I  should  assume  the  responsibility  of  making. 

' '  On  the  3d  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before  you  the  extraordinary 
announcement  of  the  imperial  German  government  that  on  and  after  the  first 
day  of  February  it  was  its  purpose  to  put  aside  all  restraints  of  law  or  of  human- 
ity and  use  its  submarines  to  sink  every  vessel  that  sought  to  approach  either 
the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  or  the  western  coast  of  Europe  or  any  of 
the  pcrts  controlled  by  the  enemies  of  Germany  within  the  Mediterranean. 

HOPED  FOB  modified  WARFARE 

"That  had  seemed  to  be  the  object  of  the  German  submarine  warfare 
earlier  in  the  war,  but  sine©  April  of  last  year  the  imperial  government  had 
somewhat  restrained  the  commanders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  conformity  with 
its  promise  then  given  to  us  that  passenger  boats  should  not  be  sunk  and  that 
due  warning  would  be  given  to  all  other  vessels  which  its  submarines  might 
seek  to  destroy,  when  no  resistance  was  offered  or  escape  attempted,  and  care 
taken  that  their  crews  were  given  at  least  a  fair  chance  to  save  their  lives  in 
their  open  boats. 

' '  The  precautions  taken  were  meager  and  haphazard  enough,  as  was  proved 
in  distressing  instance  after  instance  in  the  progress  of  the  cruel  and  unmanly 
business,  but  a  certain  degree  of  restraint  was  observed. 

"The  new  policy  has  swept  every  restriction  aside.  Vessels  of  every  kind, 
whatever  their  flag,  their  character,  their  cargo,  their  destination,  their  errand, 
have  been  ruthlessly  sent  to  the  bottom  without  warning  and  without  thought 
of  help  or  mercy  for  those  on  board,  the  vessels  of  friendly  neutrals  along 
with  those  of  belligerents. 

"Even  hospital  ships  and  ships  carrying  relief  to  the  sorely  bereaved  and 
stricken  people  of  Belgium,  though  the  latter  were  provided  with  safe  conduct 
through  the  proscribed  area  by  the  German  government  itself  and  were  distin- 
guished by  unmistakable  marks  of  identity,  have  been  sunk  with  the  same 
reckless  lack  of  compassion  or  of  principle. 

RELII»  ON  LAW   OP  NATIONS 

"I  was  for  a  little  while  unable  to  believe  that  such  things  would  be  in  fact 
done  by  any  government  that  had  hitherto  subscribed  to  the  humane  practices 
of  civilized  nations. 

"International  law  had  its  origin  in  the  attempt  to  set  up  some  law  which 
would  be  respected  and  observed  upon  the  seas,  where  no  nation  had  right  of 
dominion  and  where  lay  the  free  highways  of  the  world.  By  painful  stage 
after  stag©  has  that  law  been  built  up,  with 'meager  enough  results,  indeed, 
after  all  was  accomplished  that  could  be  accomplished,  but  always  with  a  clear 
view,  at  least,  of  what  the  heart  and  conscience  of  mankind  demanded, 

*'This  minimum  of  right  the  GermLan  government  has  swept  aside  under 
the  plea  of  retaliation  and  necessity  and  because  it  had  no  weaipona  which  it 
could  use  at  sea  except  these  which  it  is  impossible  to  employ  as  it  is  employ- 
ing them  without  throwing  to  the  winds  all  scruples  of  humanity  or  of  respect 
for  the  understandings  that  were  supposed  to  underlie  the  intercourse  of  the 
world. 

71 


PRESIDENT.    WILSON/8    WAB   ADDRESS 

CHALLENGE  TO  ALL  MANKIND 

"I  am  not  now  thinking  of  the  loss  of  property  involved,  immense  and 
serious  as  that  is,  but  only  of  the  wanton  and  wholesale  destruction  of  the  lives 
of  noncombatants,  men,  women  and  cJhildren,  engaged  in  pursuits  which  have 
always,  even  in  the  darkest  periods  of  modern  history,  been  deemed  innocent 
and  legitimate.  Property  can  be  paid  for;  the  lives  of  peaceful  and  innocent 
people  cannot  be.  The  present  German  submarine  warfare  against  commerae 
is  a  warfare  against  mankind. 

"  It  is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships  have  been  sunk,  American 
lives  taken,  in  ways  which  it  has  stirred  us  very  deeply  to  learn  of,  but  the 
ships  and  people  of  other  neutral  and  friendly  nations  have  been  sunk  and 
overwhelm.ed  in  the  waters  in  the  same  way. 

"There  has  been  no  discrimination.  The  challenge  is  to  all  mankind. 
Each  nation  must  decide  for  itself  how  it  will  meet  it.  The  choice  we  make 
for  ourselves  must  be  made  with  a  moderation  of  counsel  and  a  temperateness 
of  judgment  befitting  our  character  and  our  motives  as  a  nation.  We  must 
put  excited  feelings  away.  Our  motive  will  not  be  revenge  or  the  victorious 
assertion  of  the  physical  might  of  the  nation,  but  only  the  vindication  of  right 
— of  human  right — of  which  we  are  only  a  single  champion. 

"When  I  addressed  the  congress  on  the  26th  of  February  last  I  thought 
that  it  would  suffice  to  assert  our  neutral  rights  with  arms,  our  right  to  use 
the  seas  against  unlawful  interference,  our  right  to  keep  our  people  safe  against 
unlawful  violence. 

"But  armed  neutrality,  it  now  appears,  is  impracticable.  Because  sub- 
marines are  in  effect  outlaws  when  used  as  the  German  submarines  have  been 
used  against  merchant  shipping,  it  is  impossible  to  defend  ships  against  their 
attacks,  as  the  law  of  nations  has  assumed  that  merchantmen  would  defend  them- 
selves against  privateers  or  cruisers,  visible  craft  giving  chase  upon  the  open 
sea. 

"It  is  common  prudence  in  such  circumstances,  grim  necessity,  indeed,  to 
endeavor  to  destroy  them  before  they  have  shown  their  own  intentions.  They  must 
be  dealt  with  upon  sight  if  dealt  with  at  all. 

"The  German  government  denies  the  right  of  neutrals  to  use  arms  at  all 
within  the  areas  of  the  sea  which  it  has  proscribed,  even  in  the  defense  of 
rights  which  no  modern  publicist  has  ever  before  questioned  their  right  to 
defend. 

'  *  The  intimation  is  conveyed  that  the  armed  guards  which  we  have  placed 
on  our  merchant  ships  will  be  treated  as  beyond  the  pale  of  law  and  subject  to 
be  dealt  with  as  pirates  would  be.  Armed  neutrality  is  ineffectual  enough  at 
best.  In  such  circumstances  and  in  the  face  of  such  pretensions  it  is  worse 
than  ineffectual;  it  is  likely  only  to  produce  what  it  was  meant  to  prevent; 
it  is  practically  certain  to  draw  us  into  the  war  without  either  the  rights  or 
the  effectiveness  of  belligerents. 

"There  is  one  choice  we  cannot  make,  we  are  incapable  of  making:  We 
will  not  choose  the  path  of  submission  and  suffer  the  most  sacred  rights  of  our 
nation  and  our  people  to  be  ignored  or  violated.  The  wrongs  against  which  we 
now  array  ourselves  are  no  common  wrongs.  They  cut  to  the  very  roots  of 
human  life. 

MUST  ACCEPT  EESPONSIBIUTT 

' '  With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragical  character  of  the 
step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave  responsibilities  which  it  involves,  but  in 
unhesitating  obedience  to  what  I  deem  my  constitutional  duty,  I  advise  that 
the  congress  declare  the  recent  course  of  the  imperial  German  government  to 
be  in  fact  nothing  less  than  war  against  the  government  and  people  of  the 
United  States;  that  it  formally  accept  the  status  of  belligerent  which  has  thus 
been  thrust  upon  it;  and  that  it  take  immediate  steps  not  only  to  put  the 

•     12    ' 


PBESIDENT    WILSON'S   WAM   ADDRESS 

country  in  a  more  thorough  state  of  defense  but  also  to  exert  all  its  power 
and  employ  all  its  resources  to  bring  the  government  of  the  German  empire  to 
terms  and  end  the  war. 

COURSE  WE  MUST  PURSUE 

"What  this  will  involve  is  clear.  It  will  involve  the  utmost  practicable 
co-operation  in  counsel  and  action  with  the  governments  now  at  war  with  Ger- 
many and,  as  incident  to  that,  the  extension  to  those  governments  of  the  most 
liberal  financial  credits,  in  order  that  our  resources  may  so  far  as  possible  be 
added  to  theirs. 

"It  will  involve  the  organization  and  mobilization  of  all  the  material 
resources  of  the  country  to  supply  the  materials  of  war  and  serve  the  incidental 
needs  of  the  nation  in  the  most  abundant  and  yet  the  most  economical  and 
efficient  way  possible. 

"It  will  involve  the  immediate  full  equipment  of  the  navy  in  all  respects, 
but  particularly  in  supplying  it  with  the  best  means  of  dealing  with  the 
enemy's  submarines. 

ARMY  OF  500,000  MEN 

"It  will  involve  the  immediate  addition  to  the  armed  force  of  the  United 
States  already  provided  for  by  law  in  case  of  war  at  least  500,000  men,  who 
should,  in  my  opinion,  be  chosen  upon  the  principal  of  universal  liability  to 
service,  and  also  the  authorization  of  subsequent  additional  increments  of  equal 
force  so  soon  as  they  may  be  needed  and  can  be  handled  in  training. 

"It  will  involve  also,  of  course,  the  granting  of  adequate  credits  to  the 
government,  sustained,  I  hope,  so  far  as  they  can  equitably  be  sustained  by  the 
present  generation,  by  well  conceived  taxation. 

* '  I  say  sustained  so  far  as  may  be  equitable  by  taxation  because  it  seema 
to  me  that  it  would  be  most  unwise  to  base  the  credits  which  will  now  be 
necessary  entirely  on  money  borrowed.  It  is  our  duty,  I  most  respectfully 
urge,  to  protect  our  people,  so  far  as  we  may,  against  the  very  serious  hardships 
and  evils  which  would  be  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  inflation  which  would  be 
produced  by  vast  loans. 

MUST   SUPPLY  THE  ALLIES 

"In  carrying  out  the  measures  by  which  these  things  are  to  be  accom- 
plished we  should  keep  constantly  in  mind  the  wisdom  of  interfering  as  little 
as  possible  in  our  own  preparation  and  in  the  equipment  of  our  own  military 
forces  with  the  duty — for  it  will  be  a  very  practical  duty — of  supplying  the 
nations  already  at  war  with  Germany  with  the  materials  which  they  can  obtain 
only  from  us  or  by  our  assistance.  They  are  in  the  field,  and  we  should  help 
them  in  every  way  to  be  effective  there. 

"I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  through  the  several  executive 
departments  of  the  government,  for  the  consideration  of  your  committees, 
measures  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  several  objects  I  have  mentioned. 
I  hope  that  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  deal  with  them  as  having  been  framed 
after  very  careful  thought  by  the  branch  of  the  governmerit  upon  which  the 
responsibility  of  conducting  the  war  and  safeguarding  the  nation  wiU  most 
directly  fall. 

SEEKS  FREEDOM  OP  WORLD 

"While  we  do  these  things,  these  deeply  momentous  things,  let  us  be  very 
clear,  and  make  very  clear  to  all  the  world,  what  our  motives  and  our  objects 
are.  My  own  thought  has  not  been  driven  from  its  habitual  and  normal  course 
by  the  unhappy  events  of  the  last  months,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  thought 
of  the  nation  has  been  altered  or  clouded  by  them. 

"I  have  exactly  the  same  things  in  mind  now  that  I  had  in  mind  when 
I  addressed  the  senate  on  the  twenty-second  of  January  last;  the  same  that 
I  had  in  mind  when  I  addressed  the  congress  on  the  third  of  February  and  on 
the  twenty-sixth  of  February. 


PEESIDENT    WILSON'S   WAM   ADDRESS 

"Our  object  now,  as  then,  is  to  vindicate  the  principles  of  peace  and 
justice  in  the  life  of  the  world  as  against  selfish  and  autocratic  power  and  to 
set  up  amongst  the  really  free  and  self -governed  peoples  of  the  world  such  a 
concert  of  purpose  and  of  action  as  will  henceforth  insure  the  observance  of 
those  principles. 

"Neutrality  is  no  longer  feasible  or  desirable  where  the  peace  of  the 
world  is  involved  and  the  freedom  of  its  peoples,  and  the  menace  to  that  peace 
and  freedom  lies  in  the  existence  of  autocratic  governments  backed  by  orga- 
nized force  which  is  controlled  wholly  by  their  will — not  by  the  will  of  their 
people. 

"We  have  seen  the  last  of  neutrality  in  such  circumstances.  We  are  at 
the  beginning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will  be  insisted  that  the  same  standards  of 
conduct  and  of  responsibility  for  wrong  done  shall  be  observed  among  nations 
and  their  governments  that  are  observed  among  the  individual  citizens  of 
civilized  states. 

NO  QUAEREL  WITH  GERMANS 

' '  We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.  We  have  no  feeling  towards 
them  but  one  of  sympathy  and  friendship.  It  was  not  upon  their  impulse  that 
their  government  acted  in  entering  this  war.  It  was  not  with  their  pre'vious 
knowledge  or  approval.  It  was  a  war  determined  upon  as  wars  used  to  ba 
deteriained  upon  in  the  old,  unhappy  days  when  peoples  were  nowhere  consulted 
by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked  and  waged  in  the  interest  of  dynasties 
or  of  little  groups  of  ambitious  men  who  were  accustomed  to  use  their  fellow- 
men  as  pawns  and  tools. 

"Self-  governed  nations  do  not  fill  their  neighbor  states  with  spies  or  set 
the  course  of  intrigue  to  bring  about  some  critical  posture  of  affairs  which 
will  give  them  an  opportunity  to  strike  and  make  conquest. 

"Such  designs  can  be  successfully  worked  out  only  under  cover  and  where 
no  one  has  the  right  to  ask  questions.  Cunningly  contrived  plans  of  deception 
or  aggression,  carried,  it  may  be,  from  generation  to  generation,  can  be  ivorked 
out  and  kept  from  the  light  only  within  the  privacy  of  courts  or  behind  the 
carefully  guarded  confidences  of  a  narrow  and  privileged  class.  They  arc 
haxjpily  impossible'where  public  opinion  commands  and  insists  upon  full  infor- 
mation concerning  all  the  nation's  affairs. 

MENACE  OF  INTRIGUES 

"A  steadfast  concert  for  peace  can  never  be  maintained  except  by  a  part- 
nership of  democratic  nations.  No  autocratic  government  could  be  trusted  to 
keep  faith  within  or  observe  its  covenants.  It  must  be  a  league  of  honor,  a 
partnership  of  opinion. 

"Intrigue  would  eat  its  vitals  away;  the  plottings  of  inner  circles  who 
could  plan  what  they  would  and  give  account  to  no  one,  would  be  a  corruption 
eeated  at  its  very  heart. 

"Only  free  peoples  can  hold  their  purpose  and  their  honor  steady  to  a 
common  end  and  pjefer  the  interest  of  mankind  to  any  narrow  interest  of 
their  own. 

WELCOME  TO  FREE  RUSSIA 

"Does  not  every  American  feel  that  assurance  has  been  added  to  our  hopo 
for  the  future  peace  of  the  world  by  the  wonderful  and  heartening  things  that 
have  been  happening  within  the  last  few  weeks  in  Eussia? 

"Russia  was  known  by  those  who  knew  it  best  to  have  been  always  in 
fact  democratic  at  heart  in  all  the  vital  habits  of  her  thought,  in  all  the  inti- 
mate relationships  of  her  people  that  spoke  their  natural  instinct,  their  habitual 
attitude  toward  life.  The  autocracy  that  crowned  the  summit  of  her  political 
structure,  as  long  as  it  had  stood  and  terrible  as  was  the  reality  of  its  power, 
was  not  in  fact  Russian  in  origin,  character  or  purpose;  and  now  it  has  been 

14 


PRESIDENT   WILSON'S   WAR   ADDRESS 

sTiaken  off  and  the  great,  generous  Russian  people  have  added  in  all  their 
native  majesty  and  might  to  the  forces  that  are  fighting  for  freedom  in  the 
world,  for  justice,  and  for  peace.    Here  is  a  fit  partner  for  a  league  of  honor. 

"One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that  the  Prussian  autoc- 
racy was  not  and  could  never  be  our  friend  is  that  from  the  very  outset  of 
the  present  war  it  has  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  and  even  our  offices 
of  government  with  spies  and  set  criminal  intrigues  everywhere  afoot  against 
our  national  unity  of  counsel,  our  peace  within  and  without,  our  industries, 
and  our  commerce. 

"Indeed,  it  is  now  evident  that  its  spies  were  here  even  before  the  war 
began,  and  it  is  unhappily  not  a  m.atter  of  conjecture,  but  a  fact  proved  in  our 
courts  of  justice,  that  the  intrigues  which  have  more  than  once  come  perilously 
near  to  disturbing  the  peace  and  dislocating  the  industries  of  the  country  have 
been  carried  on  at  the  instigation,  with  the  support,  and  even  under  the  per- 
sonal direction  of  official  agents  of  the  imperial  government  accredited  to  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

SOUGHT  TO  IGNORE  PLOTS 

"Even  in  checking  these  things  and  trying  to  extirpate  them  we  have 
sought  to  put  the  most  generous  interpretation  possible  upon  them  because  we 
knew  that  their  source  lay  not  in  any  hostile  feeling  or  purpose  of  the  German 
people  towards  us  (who  were,  no  doubt,  as  ignorant  of  them  as  we  ourselves 
were)  but  only  in  the  selfish  designs  of  a  government  that  did  what  it  pleased 
and  told  its  people  nothing. 

"But  they  played  their  part  in  serving  to  convince  us  at  last  that  that 
government  entertains  no  real  friendship  for  us  and  means  to  act  against  our 
peace  and  security  at  its  convenience.  That  it  means  to  stir  up  enemies  against 
us  at  our  very  doors  the  intercepted  note  to  the  German  minister  at  Mexico 
City  is  eloquent  evidence. 

FIGHT  FOR  HUMAN  EIGHTS 

"We  are  accepting  this  challenge  of  hostile  purpose  because  we  know  that 
in  such  a  government,  following  such  methods,  we  can  never  have  a  friend,  and 
that  in  the  presence  of  its  organized  power,  always  lying  in  wait  to  accomplish 
we  know  not  what  purpose,  there  can  be  no  assured  security  for  the  democratic 
governments  of  the  world. 

' '  We  are  now  about  to  accept  gage  of  battle  with  this  natural  foe  to  liberty 
and  shall,  if  necessary,  spend  the  whole  force  of  the  nation  to  cheek  and  nullify 
its  pretensions  and  its  power.  We  are  glad,  now  that  we  see  the  facts  with 
no  veil  of  false  pretense  about  them,  to  fight  thus  for  the  ultimate  peace  of 
the  world  and  for  the  liberation  of  its  people,  the  German  people  included;  for 
the  rights  of  nations,  great  and  small;  the  privilege  of  men  everywhere  to 
choose  their  way  of  life  and  of  obedience. 

SEEK  NO  SELFISH  ENDS 

"The  world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy.  Its  peace  must  be  planted 
upon  the  tested  foundations  of  political  liberty.  We  have  no  selfish  ends  to 
serve.  We  desire  no  conquest,  no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  our- 
selves, no  material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we  shall  freely  make.  We 
are  but  one  of  the  champions  of  the  right  of  mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied 
when  those  rights  have  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the  freedom  of 
nations  can  make  them. 

"Just  because  we  fight  without  rancor  and  without  selfish  object,  seeking 
nothing  for  ourselves  but  what  we  s'hall  wish  to  share  with  all  free  peoples,  we 
shall,  I  feel  confident,  conduct  our  operations  as  belligerents  without  passion 
and  ourselves  observe  with  pjoud  punctilio  the  principles  of  right  and  of  fair 
play  we  profess  to  be  fightii}^  for. 


PRESIDENT   WILSON'S   WAR  ADDRESS 

SILENT  AS  TO  AUSTRIA 

"I  have  said  nothing  of  the  governments  allied  with  the  imperial  German 
government  because  they  have  not  made  war  upon  us  or  challenged  us  to 
defend  our  right  and  our  honor. 

"The  Austro-Hungarian  government  has,  indeed,  avowed  its  unqualified 
indorsement  and  acceptance  of  the  reckless  and  lawless  submarine  warfare 
adopted  now  without  disguise  by  the  imperial  German  government,  and  it  haa 
therefore  not  been  possible  for  this  government  to  receive  Count  Tarnowski, 
the  ambassador  recently  accredited  to  this  government  by  the  imperial  and 
royal  government  of  Austria-Hungary ;  but  that  government  has  not  actually 
engaged  in  warfare  against  citizens  of  the  United  States  on  the  seas. 

"On  these  premises  I  take  the  liberty,  for  the  present  at  least,  of  post- 
poning a  discussion  of  our  relations  with  the  authorities  at  Vienna.  We  enter 
this  war  only  where  we  are  clearly  forced  into  it  because  there  are  no  other 
means  of  defending  our  rights. 

"It  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves  as  belligerents  in  a 
high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness  because  we  act  without  animus,  not  in  enmity 
towards  a  people  or  with  the  desire  to  bring  any  injury  or  disadvantage  upon 
them,  but  only  in  armed  opposition  to  an  irresponsible  government  which  haa 
thrown  aside  alf  considerations  of  humanity  and  of  right  and  is  running  amuck. 

GERMANS  IN  AMERICA 

"We  are,  let  me  say  again,  the  sincere  friends  of  the  German  people,  and 
shall  desire  nothing  so  much  as  the  early  reestablishment  of  intimate  relations 
of  mutual  advantage  between  us,  however  hard  it  may  be  for  them,  for  the 
time  being,  to  believe  that  this  is  spoken  from  our  hearts. 

"We  have  borne  with  their  present  government  through  all  these  bitter 
months  because  of  that  friendship,  exercising  a  patience  and  forbearance 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  impossible. 

"We  shall,  happily,  still  have  an  opportunity  to  prove  that  friendship  in 
our  daily  attitude  and  actions  towards  the  millions  of  men  and  women  of 
German  birth  and  native  sympathy  who  live  amongst  us  and  share  our  life, 
and  we  shall  be  proud  to  prove  it  towards  all  who  are  in  fact  loyal  to  their 
neighbors  and  to  the  government  in  the  hour  of  test.  They  are,  most  of  them, 
as  true  and  loyal  Americans  as  if  they  had  never  known  any  other  fealty  or 
allegiance.  They  will  be  prompt  to  stand  with  us  in  rebuking  and  restraining 
the  few  who  may  be  of  a  different  mind  and  purpose.  If  there  should  be  dis- 
loyalty it  will  be  dealt  with  with  a  firm  hand  of  stern  repression;  but  if  it  lifts 
its  head  at  ail  it  will  lift  it  only  here  and  there  and  without  countenance  except? 
from  a  lawless  and  malignant  few. 

CIVILIZATION  IN  BALANCE 

"  It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  gentlemen  of  the  congress,  which 
I  have  performed  in  thus  addressing  you.  There  are,  it  may  be,  many  mouths 
of  fiery  trial  and  sacrifice  ahead  of  us.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  lead  this  great 
peaceful  people  into  war,  into  the  most  terrible  and  disastrous  of  all  wars, 
civilization  itself  seeming  to  be  in  the  balance. 

"But  the  right  ia  more  precious  than  peace,  and  we  shall  fight  for  the 
things  which  we  have  always  carried  nearest  our  hearts — for  democracy,  for 
the  right  of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own  govern- 
ments, for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  smaU  nations,  for  a  universal  dominion 
of  right  by  such  a  concert  of  free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to 
all  nations  and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free. 

"To  such  a  task  we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our  fortunes,  everything 
that  we  are  and  everything  that  we  have,  with  the  pride  of  those  who  know 
that  the  day  has  come  when  America  is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her 
might  for  the  principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness  and  the  peace  which, 
she  has  treasured.    God  helping  her,  she  can  do  no  other." 

16 


CHAPTER  I 

WHY  WE  WENT  TO  WAE 

MEMORIES    OF   BEAUTIFUL   FEANCE— WHY   I   WAS   NOT   ACCEPTEB 

AS  CONSUL  TO  GERMANY 
By  Hon,  James  Martin  Miller 

FORMER  UNITED  STATES   CONSUL  IN   FRANCE 

To  have  lived  on  the  principal  battle  ground  of  the  world  war 
was  a  privilege  the  author  did  not  appreciate  at  the  time.  As  repre- 
sentative of  the  United  States  Groverninent  in  the  Consular  district  of 
France  that  includes  the  departments  of  the  Aisne,  Ardennes,  Mame, 
Aube,  Meuse,  Vosges,  Haute-Marne  and  Meurthe-et-Moselle,  he  lived 
and  had  his  headquarters  at  Reims,  some  years  before  the  war,  Reims 
is  (or  rather  was)  a  beautiful  city  of  112,000  people.  The  story  of 
the  city  goes  back  to  the  days  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  bears  the 
mark  of  many  Gallic  insurrections.  In  comparatively  later  times 
Joan  of  Arc  caused  Charles  VII  to  be  crowned  in  the  great  Cathedral 
there — one  of  the  most  glorious  and  stately  in  all  Europe,  now  a  ruin. 
A  history  of  the  eight  departments  (or  small  states)  mentioned  above 
would  include  a  history  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870-71,  and  of 
the  greatest  and  most  desperate  of  all  wars,  the  one  just  brought  to  a 
close. 

My  Consular  district  bordered  on  Belgium,  Luxemburg  and 
Alsace-Lorraine.  The  Mame,  the  Aisne,  the  Vesle,  and  other  streams 
whose  names  adorn  with  sad  pride  so  many  of  America's  battleflags, 
flow  through  it.  After  1914  Belgium  saw  very  little  fighting ;  but  this 
district  saw  almost  four  years  of  continuous  and  enormous  battle.  It 
was  overrun  time  and  again.  Neither  Belgium  nor  any  other  country 
suffered  such  devastation,  nor  such  material  destruction.  Today  it  is 
a  vast  graveyard.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  dyed  its  soil  with 
their  lifeblood.  All  America  and  all  the  world  knows  about  Chateau 
Thierry  and  St.  Mihiel,  and  the  gallantry  of  American  troops  in  those 
two  brilliant  and  significant  actions.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  the 
stupendous  tragedy  that  through  all  those  years  hung  over  that  beau- 
tiful country,  whose  fields  were  once  as  familiar  to  me  as  any  fields  of 
home.  I  look  back  to  that  time  with  affection,  in  the  glow  of  happy 
memories. 

Americans  before  this  war  had  held,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  high 
reverence.  Presidents  had  strengthened  it  in  their  messages.  Candi- 
dates for  office  for  more  than  half  a  century  had  argued  as  a  campaign 
issue  that  the  United  States  must  never  be  drawn  into  foreign 
entanglements;  that  no  European  nation  ever  would  be  allowed  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  American  continents.  This  doctrine  was 
so  deeply  rooted  that  objectors  everywhere  rose  up  when  we  began  to 
talk  of  "preparedness"  against  the  ultimate  day  when  we  could  no 

17 


MEMORIES  OF  BEAUTIFUL  FRANCE 

longer  keep  out  of  the  fight.  Many  declared  it  would  be  "unconstitu- 
tional" for  the  United  States  to  send  troops  to  Europe.  The  war 
lords  of  Germany  took  advantage  of  this  traditional  sentiment  among 
our  people  and  felt  sure  that  the  United  States  never  v/ould  come  in, 
no  matter  how  many  American  lives  nor  how  much  American  property 
Germany  might  destroy,  nor  how  many  of  our  ships  German  pirates 
might  sink  at  sea,  without  warning.  The  German  govenmient  had 
built  up  a  propaganda  in  this  country  that  at  one  time  threatened  to 
poison  the  minds  of  all  our  people.  There  were  some  among  us  who 
hated  England,  and  wanted  to  see  Germany  win  for  no  other  reason 
than  that.  Others  hated  Russia,  and  so  desired  Germany  to  win. 
Germany's  secret  intrigues  in  Mexico  came  near  to  getting  us  into  a 
war  with  that  country.  In  the  face  of  all  these  things  there  was  a 
strong  sentiment  amo:ii:  our  people  and  even  in  Congress  favorable 
to  Germany.  It  is  easy  now  to  say  that  we  should  have  gone  to  war 
when  the  Lusitania  was  sunk,  but  pro-German  feeling  was  so  noisy 
and  so  strong,  even  though  it  was  held  by  a  minority,  that  the  Congress 
itself  was  affected  and  withheld  its  hand. 

Public  sentiment  had  to  be  erystalized  so  that  it  would  stand 
back  of  the  administration.  With  our  lack  of  a  secret  service  capable 
of  coping  with  the  German  agents  who  were  busy  everywhere  and  all 
the  time,  we  were  at  a  disadvantage  in  gathering  evidence  to  convince 
our  people  that  the  Germans  were  menacing  our  very  existence.  Even 
after  the  secret  service  was  built  up  it  took  many  months  of  hard  work 
and  several  thousand  government  men  to  uncover  and  stamp  out  their 
organizations  and  their  ruthless  plots.  The  slimy  tracks  of  the  German 
ambassador  at  Washington  had  to  be  followed  through  devious  under- 
ground channels  that  no  one  had  suspected.  The  embassy  had  filled 
the  country  with  German  poison  gas,  and  backed  the  German  campaign 
of  wholesale  arson.  Germans  living  here,  many  of  them  American 
bom,  were  busily  counteracting  public  opinion  as  the  evidences 
accumulated. 

Democracies  are  always  at  a  disadvantage  in  dealing  with 
monarchies;  in  the  initial  stages  of  war  at  least.  We  have  seen  it 
demonstrated  that  a  democracy  must  become  autocratic  if  it  is  to  carry 
on  a  war  successfully.  But  an  American  autocracy  takes  the  shape 
of  a  temporary  delegation  of  unusual  power  in  conditions  that  cannot 
wait  for  the  slow  action  of  ordinary  times ;  and  those  who  exercise  it 
are  put  in  power  by  the  people  themselves,  to  do  the  people's  will.  It 
was  necessary  to  consolidate  not  only  the  direction  of  the  nation  itself, 
but  of  our  military  afi;airs  abroad.  We  soon  got  the  home  situation  in 
hand,  and  then  the  President  of  the  United  States  threw  his  influence, 
backed  by  all  the  American  people,  toward  bringing  the  allied  armies 
and  those  of  the  United  States  under  one  head  in  the  person  of  General 
Foch  as  Field  Marshal.     This  was  not  accomplished  until  after  the 

18 


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(SIR  DOUGLAS  HAIG) 


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LAURSHAL  FOCH^ 


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GENERAL  JOHN  J.   PSRSHING.   Commander  American   Expeditionary   Forces  in 
France.  In  August,   1918,  had  an  army  of  1,500,000  Americans  in  France,  doing  glorious 
service  with  their  allies  against  the  common  enemy.      His  selection  for  command  wan 
approved  by  all  Am«rican« ;  he  1b  the  Idol  of  bis  men.     (Copyright,  U.  d  V.) 


!*i^jS 


Above — How  a  commanding  general  works  while  his  troops  are  fast  asleep.  A 
night  scene  in  the  tent  headquarters  of  Maj.-Gen.  Adelbcrt  Croiikhite,  U.  S.  A.,  divi- 
sion commander  on  the  front  in  France.  The  general  stands  at  the  right  and  his  chief 
of  staff,  Col.  Wm.  H.  Waldron,  at  the  left. 

Beloic — U.  S.  Secretary  of  War  Newton  D.  Baker  getting  ready  to  try  on  an 
American  infantryman's  pack  at  a  rest  camp  in  England.     ([/.  S.  Official  Photos.) 


Scene  at  Gen.  Sir  E.  H.  Allenby's  historic  entry  on  foot  into  Jerusalem,  Decem- 
ber 11,  1917,  after  its  capture  by  the  British  from  the  Turks,  who  liad  held  the  Holy 
City  under  Moslem  domination  for  centuries.  All  Christendom  hailed  the  event  with 
rejoicing.  Every  sacred  building,  shrine,  and  traditional  holy  spot  will  in  future  be 
scrujJulously  maintained  and  protected.  The  Holy  City  was  not  bombarded  by  the 
British,  but  was  evacuated  by  the  Turks  and  surrendered  by  the  leading  inhaVatants 
when  Gen.  Allenby's  forces,  after  defeating  the  Turkish  troops  repeatedly  in  the  field, 
reached  Gazara,  three  miles  from  Jerusalem.  Subsequently  the  entire  Turkish  army  in 
Palestine  was  captured  or  dispersed  in  disorder.    (Copyright,  U.  &  U.)  <" 


yiffmi  iifl)WliJ'ui!iwtWiff'>|»|ilii'l''ll'!iyiii|ii'M'li'l!i||ilM<l!HIWIIlWBt'VI'-V'''li)'lil''MI7yw''ilH|i|r."^ 


Top — How  British  fighting  men  advance  to  attack  after  going  over  the  top,  spread 
out  in  thin  columns.  Very  different  from  mass  formations  of  the  enemy  and  less  costly 
In  human  life.      (British  Official  Photo,  from  I.  F.  8.) 

Bottom — A  remarkable  actual  war  photograph  of  British  machine  gunners  operat- 
ing from  Qerman  second  line ;  captured  in  the  great  Cambral  drive.  The  men  ar©  coolly 
preparing  mess.     (Copyright,  U.  d  U.) 


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Above — American  negro  infantrymon  advancins  toward  the  front  in  the  Argunne 
along  a  screened  highway.  It  can  truly  be  said  of  these  American  soldiers  and  their 
ilk  in  the  campaign  in  France  that  "the  colored  troops  fought  nol>ly." 

Below — Men  of  the  132nd  II.  S.  Infantry,  33rd  Division,  in  a  front  line  trench, 
looking  toward  the  valley  of  the  Meuse,  where  it  is  estimated  70,000  men  lie  buried, 
(17.  S.  Official  Photos.) 


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Above—Scene  in  Chateau  Thierry  after  the  battle  that  brought  undying  glory  to 
American  arms,  anil  especially  to  the  Marine  Corps.  The  effects  of  the  heavy  bom- 
bardment by  the  artillery  of  the  Third  Division  are  plainly  to  be  seen.  (Photo  from 
I.  F.   S.) 

Beloiv — American  and  French  soldiers  looking  over  the  town  of  Chateau  Thierry 
after  the  battle.  This  was  the  scene  of  America's  first  great  victory  in  the  war.  The 
town  was  stormed  and  the  enemy  routed  by  the  troops  the  Germans  had  chosen  to 
belittle.    (Copyright  by  C.  P.  I.j  Photo  from  W.  N.  U.) 


MEMORIES  OF  BEAUTIFUL  FRANCE 

great  Italian  disaster,  when  it  looked  as  though  the  Austro-HungariaLi 
armies  would  crush  Italy.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  threatened 
disaster  to  the  British  army  early  in  1918,  when  von  Hindenburg 
began  his  great  drive  toward  Calais  and  Paris.  Here  were  Germany, 
Austria-Hungary,  Turkey  and  Bulgaria,  four  monarchies  dominated 
by  the  German  government,  fighting  nearly  all  the  democracies  of  the 
world,  not  considering  Kussia,  which  dropped  out  shortly  before  the 
United  States  effectively  entered  the  war. 

We  will  not  consider  Japan's  position  as  a  nominal  member  of  the 
entente,  except  for  her  action  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  capturing 
Kiauchau,  China,  the  German  fortified  port  and  naval  base  in  the 
Orient,  and  sweeping  Germany  out  of  the  Pacific  by  taking  the 
Marshall  islands.  Beyond  this,  Japan  sent  soldiers  to  Eastern  Siberia 
to  help  in  police  duty,  and  in  guarding  the  great  stores  of  supplies 
accumulated  by  the  Russians  at  Vladivostok.  These  stores  had  been 
bought  largely  upon  the  credit  extended  to  Russia  by  the  United 
States. 

With  Russia,  Germany  and  Austria-Hungary  gone  as  monarchies, 
Japan  is  the  greatest  of  the  remaining  imperial  states.  We  have  seen 
more  than  a  dozen  kings,  emperors,  princes  and  grand  dukes  pass  into 
the  discard  as  a  result  of  a  war  which  they  themselves  brought  on. 

France  tried  to  discard  kings  and  princes  in  1798.  The  sov- 
erignty  of  the  people  was  proclaimed  in  that  war,  but  the  governments 
which  have  ruled  France  since  have  been  many,  and  presented  wide 
differences.  In  this  present  age,  no  doubt  it  will  be  much  easier  to 
establish  a  stable  democracy  upon  the  wreck  of  a  monarchy  than  it 
could  have  been  a  century  ago.  Still,  the  construction  of  a  democracy 
is  a  difficult  ordeal  for  people  who  have  always  been  imperialists.  The 
several  monarchies,  big  and  little,  that  have  fallen  in  this  war,  present 
most  perplexing  problems.  There  are  boundary  and  racial  disputes 
of  the  most  bitter  kind  between  some  of  their  peoples.  But  the  great 
democracies  of  the  world  that  won  this  war  are  taking  the  part  of 
"big  brothers"  to  these,  and  are  seeing  to  it  that  their  petty  quarrels 
and  internal  differences  are  held  in  check.  Each  of  these  countries, 
even  though  they  establish  democracies,  will  have  strong  royalist 
parties  that  will  constitute  a  standing  threat.  France  even  to  this  day 
has  a  royalist  group  of  considerable  strength.  Their  persistent  claim 
is  that  France  will  again  be  a  monarchy.  The  United  States  is  really 
the  only  democracy  without  such  a  party.  It  is  the  only  republic  that 
was  not  founded  on  the  ruin  of  a  monarchy. 

WHY  I  WAS  NOT  ACCEPTED  AS  CONSUL  TO  GERMANY 

I  have  had  some  personal  experience  with  the  late  German 
Imperial  Government.  As  a  war  correspondent  it  was  my  duty  tc  give 
to  the  world  an  account  of  the  forcible  deportation  of  King  Mataafa 

19 


MEMORIES  OF  BEAUTIFUL  FRANCE 

from  Samoa  to  the  Marshall  Islands,  where  he  was  kept  in  exile  six 
years.  The  Germans  had  shoved  him  aside  to  make  room  for  Malieto, 
an  imbecile  and  a  German  figurehead.  I  was  there  again  when 
Mataafa,  at  the  end  of  those  six  years,  returned  to  Samoa,  to  the  great 
joy  of  his  people. 

A  few  years  later  I  discovered  that  Germany's  policy  was  to 
"mark"  any  individual  who  wrote  or  spoke  in  criticism  of  anything 
German. 

I  was  appointed  United  States  Consul  to  Aix  la  Chapelle,  Ger- 
many, four  years  after  those  articles  appeared.  My  appointment  came 
from  President  Eoosevelt,  and  was  confirmed  by  the  United  States 
Senate.  When  I  arrived  in  Germany  I  found  I  was  United  States 
Consul  so  far  as  the  United  States  Government  was  concerned,  but  I 
was  put  off  in  the  matter  of  my  exequatur  (certificate  of  authority) 
from  the  government  to  which  I  was  accredited;  and  without  an 
exequatur,  I  could  not  act,  I  was  kept  cooling  my  heels  in  the 
consulate  several  months  before  I  found  out  what  was  the  matter. 
My  newspaper  articles  describing  what  the  Germans  had  done  in 
Samoa,  published  four  years  earlier,  were  being  held  against  me.  My 
presence  in  Germany  was  not  desired. 

I  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  Prince  Henry,  the  Kaiser's 
brother  and  Admiral  of  the  German  Navy,  in  February,  1901,  when 
the  Prince  brought  his  party  of  a  dozen  or  so  militarists  to  this  country 
to  "further  cement  the  amity  and  good  will"  existing  between  the 
great  republic  and  the  great  empire.  It  later  developed  that  this  was 
a  well  planned  operation  in  German  propaganda.  As  a  representative 
of  the  Associated  Press,  I  had  written  of  it.  That  was  just  after  I  had 
written  the  Samoan  articles. 

Speck  von  Sternberg  was  the  German  Ambassador  to  Washing- 
ton. He  was  in  Paris.  I  went  there  to  see  him  and  ascertain,  if  I 
could,  why  my  exequatur  was  withheld.  The  Government  at  Wash- 
ington could  get  no  information  on  the  subject.  The  whole  affair 
was  clothed  in  mystery. 

After  some  conversation  I  suggested  to  Ambassador  von  Sternberg 
that  perhaps  the  foreign  office  at  Berlin  was  withholding  the  document 
because  of  my  writings  on  German  colonial  matters.  Then  it  came  out 
— my  guess  was  true.  Some  underlings  in  the  foreign  office  had  the 
case  in  charge.  The  Ambassador  suggested  that  as  I  knew  Prince 
Henry,  I  would  better  write  him  at  Kiel.  I  did  this,  with  the  result 
that  the  obstacle  was  removed  and  the  exequatur  issued. 

It  arrived  too  late,  for  President  Eoosevelt  the  day  before  had 
promoted  me  to  the  Consul-Gener&lship  at  the  important  seaport  of 
Auckland,  New  Zealand.  My  family  being  in  France  at  that  time,  I 
applied  for  and  immediately  received  a  transfer  to  the  consular  dis- 

20 


UNITED  STATES  m  THE   WAB 

trict  in  France,  mentioned  elsewhere  in  this  chapter.    My  exequatur 
came  the  day  following  my  arrival  in  France. 

My  experience  in  Germany  had  been  widely  published  in 
American  and  other  newspapers.  Some  of  our  more  sensational  papers 
had  accounts  of  my  being  ' '  expelled ' '  from  Germany,  which  were  not 
true.    I  left  Germany  wholly  upon  my  own  volition. 

WHY  WE  WENT  TO  WAR 

During  two  years  preceding  our  entrance  upon  war,  Germany 
had  been  carrying  on  open  warfare  against  us,  within  our  own  bor- 
ders. For  more  than  thirty  years  Germany's  policy  of  preparatory 
penetration  had  been  in  course.  As  we  know  now,  every  country,  all 
round  the  globe,  but  especially  the  United  States  in  North  America 
and  Brazil  and  Venezuela  in  South  America,  had  been  filled  with 
Germans,  ostensibly  settlers,  business  men  and  followers  of  the  higher 
professions,  but  for  the  greater  part  agents  of  Germany,  in  continuous 
contact  with  Potsdam  and  under  Potsdam  direction.  It  was  the  busi- 
ness of  these  imported  Germans  to  foster  the  German  idea,  exalt 
Germany's  leadership  in  military  power  and  in  science  and  the  arts, 
impress  their  language,  their  literature,  music  and  customs  upon  our 
people,  and  to  do  all  those  things  which  might  work  for  the  day  when 
Germany,  having  faked  a  partnership  with  Almighty  God,  should 
reach  out  for  world  dominion. 

The  processes  were  pressed  with  that  strange  blend  of  industry, 
stupidity,  mendacity  and  cunning  which  characterize  the  Prussian 
and  all  his  acts.  Under  our  noses  a  German  solidarity  was  attempted 
here,  and  in  part  achieved.  Organizations  having  Prussian  ends  in 
view  were  numerous,  large,  popular  and  unsuspected.  Threading 
them  through  and  through  was  a  spy  system  unbelievably  thorough 
and  amazingly  adroit.  Potsdam  had  us  marked  as  a  nation  of  easy- 
going money  getters,  to  be  bled  white,  crammed  with  her  muddy 
kultur  and  taught  the  goose-step,  at  her  imperial  leisure,  after  France 
and  England  had  fallen  to  her  guns. 

But  her  blend  of  qualities,  no  matter  how  strong  in  itself,  was 
nullified  by  just  one  lack:  the  total  inability  of  the  Prussian  mind 
to  understand  the  mind  of  the  world  exterior  to  Germany.  In  the 
day  of  test  it  failed. 

Because  of  that  inability,  and  knowing  full  well  how  readily  the 
German  mind  could  be  terrorized,  the  outbreak  of  war  in  Europe 
brought  an  outbreak  of  blind  German  violence  in  the  United  States. 
We  were  to  be  impressed  by  the  German  power  to  strike.  Our  soil 
was  chosen  as  a  garden  of  domestic  sedition,  and  of  foreign  conspiracy 
against  powers  with  which  we  were  at  peace.  To  keep  us  busy  with 
troubles  of  our  own,  German  propaganda  and  German  money  in 
Mexico  raised  on  our  southern  border  a  threatening  spectre  of  war. 

21 


WHY  WE   WENT   TO   WAR 

We  were  to  have  been  rushed  into  conflict  with  Mexico  and  kept  em- 
ployed there  while  being  terrorized  by  wholesale  arson  and  sabotage 
at  home,  so  that  by  no  chance  could  any  friendly  European  power 
look  to  us  for  help.  The  scheme  came  near  to  succeeding,  for  our 
people  were  aroused  by  Mexican  aggression,  and  the  flaunting  insults 
of  Mexican  authority,  prompted  by  German  agents.  The  policy  of  our 
Government  saved  us  from  falling  into  a  trap  that  might  have  held 
us  fast  while  Germany  overran  the  whole  of  Europe  and  made  ready 
to  come  a-plundering  here  at  her  own  time  and  convenience. 

If  the  truth  had  been  known  by  the  people  then  as  clearly  as  it 
was  known  at  Washington,  nothing  could  have  held  us  back.  We 
would  not  have  bothered  with  Mexico  at  all.  We  would  have  joined 
the  free  nations  of  Europe,  and  nobody  may  guess  what  would  have 
happened.  Certainly  we  could  not  have  assembled  the  men  and  the 
resources  we  actually  and  swiftly  did  assemble  later,  when  the  real 
hour  sounded.  We  would  have  cut  a  sorry  figure  and  gone  into  the 
mess  confusedly.  Washington  knew.  The  President  knew  so  well 
that  through  1915  and  1916  he  and  others  in  high  places  never  ceased 
crying  a  warning  to  "prepare."  The  President  himself  toured  the 
country  and  told  the  people  every-where  that  with  a  world  on  fire 
we  could  not  hope  to  escape  unsinged. 

He  said  openly  as  much  as  he  dared.  Under  the  surface  the 
Government  did  much  more.  The  rapid  movement  of  events  once 
we  were  declared  a  combatant  would  have  been  impossible  otherwise. 
That  rapidity  of  effective  action  surprised  the  world  only  because  it 
had  all  been  planned  before  a  word  was  said. 

In  the  years  of  our  neutrality  our  course  as  a  nation  was  surely 
shaping  itself  for  war,  without  an  outward  sign  or  act,  Kuthless 
destruction  of  property  and  of  life  became  too  open,  too  frequent,  too 
outrageous,  for  the  patience  of  even  a  long-suffering,  tolerant  people 
such  as  we.  The  first  impulse  of  genuine  resentment  was  given  when 
the  Lusitania  went  down  with  its  neutral  passengers,  a  defenseless 
ship  on  a  peaceful  errand,  drowning  mor«  than  a  hundred  Americans 
of  both  sexes  and  all  ages  without  the  slightest  notice,  or  the  faintest 
chance  of  escape. 

Any  nation  other  than  ours  would  have  gone  to  war  in  a  moment 
over  such  a  blow  in  the  face.  We  did  not.  Farther,  we  endured  a 
sudden  and  flagrant  increase  of  German  propaganda  in  high  quarters 
anfl  low,  and  of  German  insolence  openly  and  defiantly  parading 
itself.  The  catalogue  of  provocations  grew  daily,  and  daily  bred 
anger,  but  our  temper  held  until  in  February  of  1917,  when  Germany 
proclaimed  unrestricted  piracy  by  submarines,  and  under  the  thin 
pretext  of  starving  out  the  British  Isles,  American  and  other  ships 
were  destroyed  with  all  on  board,  wholesale. 

Even  then  our  hand  was  withheld  until  Germany  advised  us  that 

22 


WHY  V/E   WENT   TO   WAR 

we  might  send  just  one  ship  a  week  to  Europe,  one  snip  and  no  more, 
provided  that  solitary  ship  were  painted  in  a  manner  prescribed  in 
the  permission,  and  then  held  strictly  to  a  course  laid  down  by  the 
German  admiralty.  Germany,  a  third  rate  naval  power,  had  arbi- 
trarily forbidden  us  the  freedom  of  the  seas. 

Then  our  patience  broke.  For  this  and  all  the  other  causes  Ger- 
many had  given  us,  and  for  our  own  safety  and  the  rescue  of  a  world 
that  without  us  would  have  perished,  the  United  States  went  to  war. 

V70RK  OR  FIGHT 

Back  of  every  American  soldier  about  fifty  men  and  women  wera 
needed  in  order  that  he  be  supplied  with  everything  his  physical, 
moral  and  military  well  being  might  require.  They  were^put  there. 
The  result  was  a  sweeping  change,  an  immense  expansion  of  energy  in 
the  United  States  itself.  The  draft  took  care  of  the  army.  No  time 
or  trouble  had  to  be  given  to  filling  the  ranks  and  keeping  them  full. 
The  enormous  sums  of  money  necessary  to  finance  our  allies  as  well 
as  ourselves  were  promptly  oversubscribed  in  a  series  of  loans,  the 
first  and  least  of  which  ran  into  three  billion  dollars,  the  fourth  into 
six  billions,  a  sum  larger  than  any  single  loan  ever  fioated  by  any 
other  nation.  Idleness  was  abolished.  The  order  to  "work  or  fight" 
was  strictly  enforced  upon  all  the  people,  rich  and  poor  alike,  for  any 
attempt  to  except  any  one  or  any  class  would  have  been  blown  away  in 
a  gale  of  laughter.  In  a  space  incredibly  brief  the  United  States 
became  a  nation  of  actual  workers,  in  which  every  individual  did 
his  or  her  share,  submitting  meanwhile,  with  good  grace  and  no  mur- 
muring, to  being  rationed.  Interstate  utilities  were  taken  over  and 
operated  by  the  government,  including  the  railway,  telegraph  and 
telephone  lines ;  and  government  fixed  prices  on  the  necessaries  of  life. 
Everything  was  subordinated  to  the  one  and  only  purpose  of  winning 
the  war.  All  that  we  were  and  all  that  we  had  was  thoroughly  mobil- 
ized behind  the  fighting  arms,  the  army  and  the  navy. 

RATIONING  THE  NATIONS 

Almost  immediately  after  the  first  military  and  naval  prepara- 
tions had  been  set  in  operation  the  United  States  Government,  taking 
no  chance  as  against  the  future,  began  to  regulate  the  lives  and 
living  of  Americans  at  home.  A  policy  of -conservation,  so  well  devised 
that  it  v/ent  into  efi'ect  without  the  slightest  disturbance  of  daily 
living  and  daily  routine,  was  at  once  adopted. 

England,  France  and  Belgium  had  to  be  fed.  Belgium  had  to  be 
clothed  and  housed  as  well  as  fed.  Out  of  our  abundance  had  to  come 
the  means  to  those  ends,  as  well  as  to  equip  and  maintain  vast  armies 
of  our  own,  from  bases  three  thousand  miles  away  in  Europe  and 
twice  as  far  in  Asia.    The  whole  nation  was  mobilized  for  war. 

Britain  and  Prance  had  come  through  more  than  three  years  of 

23 


WHY  WE  WENT  TO   WAR 

clofic-lipped  but  bone-cracking  effort,  in  which  every  aspect  of  domestic 
life  was  changed,  the  final  ounce  of  strength  exerted,  privations  un- 
heard of  endured  in  grim  silence.  America  saved  them,  and  not  alon» 
by  force  of  arms  against  the  common  enemy. 


^ 


CHAPTER  n. 

UNITED  STATES  ENTEES  THE  WAR. 

The  President  Proclaims  War — Interned  Ship's  Are  Seised-^ 
Congress  Votes  $7,000,000,000  for  War — Raising  an 
American  Army— War  to  Victory  Wilson  Pledge— British 
and  French  Commission  Reaches  America. 

On  April  2,  1917,  Congress  having  been  called  in  special  session,- 
President  Wilson  appeared  before  a  joint  session  of  both  houses  and 
in  an  address  worthy  of  its  historical  importance  asked  for  a  formal 
declaration  that  a  state  of  war  existed  with  Germany,  owing  to  the 
ruthless  and  unrestricted  submarine  campaign.  He  recommended 
the  utmost  practical  co-operation  with  the  Entente  Allies  in  counsel 
and  action;  the  extension  of  liberal  financial  credit  to  them,  the 
mobilization  of  all  the  material  resources  of  the  United  States  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  adequate  munitions  of  war,  the  full  equip- 
ment of  the  Navy,  especially  in  supplying  it  with  means  for  dealing 
with  submarines,  and  the  immediate  enrollment  of  an  army  of  500,000 
men,  preferably  by  a  system  of  universal  service,  to  be  increased 
later  hy  an  additional  army  of  equal  size.  The  President  took  pains 
to  point  out  that  in  taking  these  measures  against  the  German  govern- 
ment, the  United  States  had  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people, 
who  were  innocent,  because  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  lawless  acts  of 
their  autocratic  government,  which  had  become  a  menace  not  only 
to  the  peace  of  the  world,  but  to  the  cause  of  fundamental  human 
liberty.  The  object  of  the  United  States,  said  the  President,  was  to 
vindicate  the  principles  of  peace  and  justice  as  against  selfish  and 
autocratic  power,  and  to  insure  the  future  observance  of  these 
principles. 

After  due  debate  the  following  joint  resolution,  declaring  war 
with  Germany  was  adopted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  signed  by  the  President  on  April  6,  1917 : 

**  Whereas,  the  imperial  German  government  has  committed 
repeated  acts  of  war  against  the  government  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America ;  therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  Assembled,  That  the  state  of 
war  between  the  United  States  and  the  imperial  German  government 
which  has  thus  been  thrust  upon  the  United  States  is  hereby  formally 
declared ;  and  that  the  President  be,  and  he  is,  hereby  authorized  and 
directed  to  employ  the  entire  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  United 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

States  and  the  resources  of  the  government  to  carry  on  war  against 
the  imperial  German  government;  and  to  bring  the  conflict  to  a 
successful  termination,  all  of  the  resources  of  the  country  are  hereby 
pledged  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 

THE   PRESIDENT  PROCLAIMS  WAR. 

Immediately  after  signing  the  resolution  of  Congress,  President 
"Wilson  issued  a  formal  proclamation  of  war,  embodying  in  it  an 
earnest  appeal  to  all  American  citizens  "that  they,  in  loyal  devotion 
to  their  country,  dedicated  from  its  foundation  to  the  principles  of 
liberty  and  justice,  uphold  the  laws  of  the  land  and  give  undivided 
and  willing  support  to  those  measures  which  may  be  adopted  by  the 
constitutional  authorities  in  prosecuting  the  war  to  a  successful  issue 
and  in  obtaining  a  secure  and  just  peace." 

The  President  further  enjoined  all  alien  enemies  within  the  United 
States  to  preserve  the  peace  and  refrain  from  crime  against  the? 
public  safety,  and  from  giving  information,  aid,  or  comfort  to  the 
enemy,  assuring  them  of  protection  so  long  as  they  conducted  them- 
selves in  accordance  with  law  and  with  regulations  which  might  be 
promulgated  from  time  to  time  for  their  guidance.  The  great  mass 
of  German- American  citizens  promptly  avowed  the  utmost  loj^alty  to 
the  United  States,  but  numerous  arrests  of  suspected  spies  followed 
all  over  the  country. 

INTERNED  SHIPS  ARE  SEIZED. 

Following  the  declaration  of  war  all  the  German  merchant  vessels 
interned  in  ports  of  the  United  States  were  seized  by  representatives 
of  the  Federal  authority,  their  crews  rem.oved  and  interned,  and 
guardians  placed  aboard.  These  ships  in  American  waters  num- 
bered 99,  of  an  aggregate  value  of  about  $100,000,000,  and  included 
some  of  the  finest  vessels  of  the  German  merchant  marine;  for 
instance,  the  Vaterland,  of  54,283  tons,  valued  at  $8,000,000,  and 
numerous  other  Atlantic  liners.  The  disposition  to  be  made  of  the 
German  ships  was  left  to  the  future  for  decision,  with  great  proba- 
bility, however,  that  they  would  be  used  to  transport  munitions  and 
supplies  to  the  Allies  in  Europe  through  the  German  submarine 
blockade. 

CONGRESS  VOTES  $7,000,000,000  FOR  WAR. 

Prompt  action  was  taken  by  Congress  to  furnish  the  sinews  of 
war.  By  April  14  a  bond  and  certificate  issue  of  $7,000,000,000 
had  been  unanimously  voted  by  both  houses,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  float  a  popular  subscription  for  the  bonds.  Tliree  billions 
of  the  amount  was  intended  for  loans  to  the  Allies,  and  the  remainder 
for  active  prosecution  of  the  war  by  the  United  States.  The  debates 
in  Congress  indicated  that  the  country  stood  solidly  behind  the  Presi- 
dent in  a  determination  to  bring  the  military  autocracy  of  Germany 
to  a  realizing  sense  of  its  responsibility  to  civilization. 

26 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

RAISING  AN  AMERICAN  ARMY. 

Legislation  was  immediately  presented  by  the  War  Department 
to  the  military  committees  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, to  provide  for  raising  an  army  for  active  participation  in  the 
war.    This  legislation  was  described  by  President  Wilson  as  follows : 

"It  proposes  to  raise  the  forces  necessary  to  meet  the  present 
emergency  by  bringing  the  regulau  army  and  the  National  Guard  to 
war  strength  and  by  adding  the  additional  forces  which  will  now 
be  needed,  so  that  the  national  army  will  comprise  three  elements — 
the  regular  army,  the  National  Guard  and  the  so-called  additional 
forces,  of  which  at  first  500,000  are  to  be  authorized  immediately 
and  later  increments  of  the  same  size  as  they  may  be  needed. 

*'in  order  that  all  these  forces  may  comprise  a  single  army,  the 
term  of  enlistment  in  the  three  is  equalized  and  will  be  for  the  period 
of  the  emergency. 

"The  necessary  men  will  be  secured  for  the  regular  army  and  the 
National  Guard  by  volunteering,  as  at  present,  until,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  President,  a  resort  to  a  selective  draft  is  desirable.  The  addi- 
tional forces,  however,  are  to  be  raised  by  selective  draft  from  men 
ranging  in  age  from  19  to  25  years.  The  quotas  of  the  several  states 
in  all  of  these  forces  will  be  in  proportion  to  their  population.'* 

Recruiting  for  the  army  and  navy  became  active  as  soon  as  war 
was  declared.  On  April  15  President  Wilson  issued  an  address  to 
the  nation,  calling  on  all  citizens  to  enroll  themselves  in  a  vast  "army 
of  service,"  military  or  industrial,  and  stating  that  the  hour  of 
supreme  test  for  the  nation  had  come.  The  United  States  prepared 
to  rise  to  its  full  measure  of  duty,  confident  in  the  patent  justice 
of  its  cause,  and  echoing  the  sentiment  of  its  President  when  he  said : 

"The  hope  of  the  world  is  that  when  the  European  war  is  over 
arrangements  will  have  been  made  composing  many  of  the  questions 
which  have  hitherto  seemed  to  require  the  arming  of  the  nations,  and 
that  in  some  ordered  and  just  way  the  peace  of  the  world  may  be 
maintained  by  such  co-operations  of  force  among  the  great  nations  as 
may  be  necessary  to  maintain  peace  and  freedom  throughout  the 
world." 

ENGLAND  WELCOMES  U.   S.   AS  x«lN"  ALLY. 

The  news  of  the  President's  proclamation  of  war,  following  the 
action  of  Congress,  was  received  in  England  and  France,  Russia  and 
Ital.y,  with  enthusiasm.  A  great  service  of  thanksgiving  was  held  in 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  London,  attended  by  the  King  and  Queen,  min- 
isters of  state,  and  an  enormous  congregation  that  joined  in  singing 
"The  Star-Spangled  Banner"  and  the  national  anthem,  while  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  by  official  order  was  flown  for  the  first  time  in  history  from 
the  tower  of  the  Parliament  buildings  at  Westminster  and  on  public 
buildings  throughout  the  British  empire.     A  high  commission  was 

27 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

appointed  to  visit  the  United  States  for  a  series  of  war  conferences, 
and  Premier  Lloyd  George  expressed  the  national  satisfaction  in  glow- 
ing terms  of  welcome  to  the  United  States  as  an  ally  against  Germany, 
paying  at  the  same  time  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  masterly  address  of 
President  Wilson  to  Congress,  which  stated  the  case  for  humanity 
against  military  autocracy  in  such  an  unanswerable  manner,  the  Brit- 
ish premier  said,  that  it  placed  the  seal  of  humanity's  approval  on  the 
Allied  cause  and  furnished  final  justification  of  the  British  attitude 
toward  Germany  in  the  war. 

POPULAR  DEMONSTRATION   IN  PARIS. 

In  France,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  flung  to  the  breeze  from  the 
Eiffel  Tower  on  April  22,  and  saluted  by  twenty-one  guns.  This 
marked  the  opening  of  the  ceremonies  of  ' '  United  States  day ' '  in  Paris. 

The  French  tricolor  and  the  star-spangled  banner  were  at  the  same 
hour  unfurled  together  from  the  residence  of  William  G.  Sharp,  the 
American  ambassador,  in  the  Avenue  d'Eylau,  from  the  American 
Embassy,  from  the  city  hall,  and  from  other  municipal  government 
buildings. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  the  red,  white  and  blue,  40,000  American 
flags  being  handed  out  gratis  by  the  committee  and  waved  by  the 
people  who  thronged  the  vicinity  of  the  manifestations,  which  included 
the  decoration  of  the  statues  of  Washington  and  Lafayette. 

Members  of  the  American  Lafayette  flying  corps,  a  delegation  from 
the  American  Ambulance  at  Neuilly  and  the  American  Field  Ambu- 
lances were  the  guard  of  honor  before  the  Lafayette  statue. 

Ambassador  Sharp  and  his  escort  were  received  at  the  city  hall  by 
the  members  of  the  municipal  council  and  other  distinguished  persons. 
Adrien  Mithouard,  president  of  the  municipal  council,  welcomed 
Ambassador  Sharp,  who  was  greeted  with  great  applause  when  address- 
ing the  people  of  Paris.    He  said : 

' '  Citizens  of  Paris :  IMay  I  say  to  you,  on  this  day  you  have  with 
such  fine  sentiment  set  apart  to  honor  my  country,  that  America 
remains  no  longer  content  to  express  to  France  merely  her  sympathy. 
In  a  cause  which  she  believes  as  verily  as  you  believe  to  be  a  sacred 
one,  she  will  consecrate  all  her  power  and  the  blood  of  her  patriotic 
sons,  if  necessary,  to  achieve  a  victory  that  shall  for  all  time  to  come 
insure  the  domination  of  right  over  wrong,  freedom  over  oppression, 
and  the  blessings  of  peace  over  the  brutality  of  war. ' ' 

The  French  Government  also  appointed  a  war  commission  to  visit 
the  United  States  forthwith  for  conference. 

Resolutions  expressing  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  Allied  nations 
at  the  action  of  the  United  States  were  adopted  by  the  British  House  of 
Commons,  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  Russian  Duma,  and 
the  Italian  Parliament.  2s 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

ENTHUSIASM  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

War  being  declared,  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  not 
slow  in  letting  the  President  know  that  they  stood  solidly  behind  him. 
From  all  parts  of  the  country  came  assurances  that  the  action  of  the 
Government  was  approved.  Organizations  of  every  conceivable  kind 
passed  resolutions  pledging  their  support  to  all  war  measures  decided 
to  be  necessary  to  carry  the  war  to  a  successful  issue.  Recruiting  was 
at  once  started  for  both  the  Army  and  the  Navy.  The  recruiting  depots 
were  thronged  daily  and  thousands  were  enrolled  for  active  serv- 
ive  while  Congress  was  debating  the  respective  merits  of  the  volunteer 
system  and  the  "selective  draft"  advocated  by  the  general  staff  of  the 
Army  and  approved  by  the  President  and  his  cabinet. 

The  full  quota  of  men  desired  for  the  Navy,  to  place  the  ships 
already  in  commission  in  a  high  state  of  efficiency,  was  soon  secured. 
More  men  offered  themselves  for  naval  service,  indeed,  than  could  be 
accepted  pending  the  action  of  Congress.  Volunteers  for  the  aviation 
corps,  the  marines,  the  field  artillery,  the  engineer  corps,  and  all  the 
various  branches  of  the  military  establishments  came  forward  freely, 
and  a  general  desire  was  expressed  to  send  an  American  force  to  tlie 
trenches  in  Europe  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  consistent  with 
proper  training  for  the  Sa'd. 

As  the  reports  of  American  diplomats  from  the  war  zone,  freed 
from  German  censorship,  were  given  to  the  public,  the  martial  spirit 
of  America  grew  apace.  Ambassador  Gerard's  corroboration  of  Ger- 
man atrocities  in  the  occupied  territory  of  France,  and  Minister  Brand 
Whitlock's  report  on  the  situation  in  Belgium  and  the  illegal  and 
atrocious  deportation  of  Belgian  citizens  for  hard  labor,  ill  treatment, 
and  starvation  in  Germany,  added  fuel  to  the  flame  of  national  indig- 
nation, already  running  high  as  the  result  of  continued  destruction 
of  American  merchant  vessels  and  the  loss  of  American  lives  by  sub- 
marine piracy  and  murder,  continued  almost  without  cessation  since 
the  infamous  sinking  of  the  Lusitania,  one  of  the  never-to-be-forgotten 
crimes  of  German  ruthlessness. 

One  hundred  million  free-bom  people  were  at  length  aroused  to 
action.  The  Na\y  was  ready  for  immediate  service  where  it  could  do 
most  good,  and  promptly  took  over  patrol  duty  in  the  western  Atlantic, 
relieving  British  and  French  men-of-war  -for  service  elsewhere.  The 
raising  of  an  army  of  a  million  or  more  men  for  active  participation 
in  the  war  waited  only  on  the  action  of  Congress. 

American  women  responded  nobly  to  the  President's  call  for  uni- 
versal service,  flocking  to  the  Red  Cross  headquarters  in  every  city 
and  setting  to  work  immediately  in  the  preparation  of  comforts  for 
the  great  army  gathering  on  the  horizon.  They  were  promptly  organ- 
ized, so  that  their  efforts  might  count  to  the  best  advantage- 

29 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

In  Au^st,  1916,  the  United  States  Navy  included  356  war  craft 
of  all  kinds,  as  against  693  credited  to  Great  Britain,  404  to  France, 
and  309  to  Germany.  The  latter  figure  does  not  include  an  unknown 
number  of  submarines  of  recent  construction. 

THE  BRITISH   COMMISSION   ARRIVES. 

On  Sunday,  April  22,  the  British  war  commission  reached  Wash- 
ington, headed  by  the  Right  Hon.  Arthur  James  Balfour,  secretary  of 
state  for  foreign  affairs  and  former  premier.  The  commission  included 
Rear  Admiral  Sir  Dudley  R.  S.  De  Chair,  naval  adviser  to  the  foreign 
office ;  Major-General  G.  T.  M.  Bridges,  representing  the  British  army ; 
Lord  Cunliffe  of  Headley,  governor  of  the  Bank  of  England;  and  a 
number  of  other  distinguished  ofiicials  and  naval  and  military  officers, 
with  clerical  assistants.  The  party  met  with  an  enthusiastic  welcome 
in  Washington.  Mr.  Balfour  was  received  by  the  President  in  private 
conference  next  day,  and  after  a  round  of  receptions  and  social  func- 
tions of  various  kinds,  arrangements  were  made  for  the  business  meet- 
ings affecting  war  policies,  which  were  the  object  of  the  visit. 

Mr.  Balfour  informed  the  President  that  the  British  commission 
had  come  to  Washington  not  to  ask  favors,  concessions,  or  agreements 
from  the  United  States,  but  to  offer  their  services  for  the  organization 
of  the  stupendous  undertaking  of  fighting  Germany.  He  said  that  if 
the  United  States  was  confronted  by  the  same  problems  that  confronted 
England  at  the  outset  of  the  war,  the  British  commission  could  be  of 
service  in  pointing  out  many  grievous  mistakes  of  policy  and  organiza- 
tion that  proved  costly  to  the  British  cause.  He  was,  in  turn,  assured 
by  the  President  that  the  United  States  would  fight  in  conjunction 
with  the  Allies  until  the  Prussian  autocracy  was  crushed  and  Ameri- 
cans at  home  and  abroad  were  safe  from  the  ruthlessness  of  the  Berlin 
government. 

MARSHAL   JOPFRE   IN  WASHINGTON 

The  French  war  commission  soon  followed  the  British  envoys, 
arriving  in  Washington  on  Wednesday,  April  25,  on  board  the  presi- 
dential yacht  ]\Iayflower  from  Hampton  Roads.  Headed  by  IM.  Rene 
Viviani,  minister  of  justice  and  former  premier  of  France,  the  com- 
mission included  the  famous  hero  of  the  Marne  and  idol  of  the  French 
army  and  people,  Marshal  Joft're;  also  Admiral  Chocheprat,  repre- 
senting the  French  navy;  the  Marquis  de  Chambrun  (Lafayette's 
grandson),  and  other  distinguished  Frenchmen.  The  fame  of  Marshal 
Joffre  and  the  traditional  friendship  for  France  secured  for  the  partj^ 
an  enthusiastic  popular  greeting.  Its  members  were  accorded  similar 
official  receptions  to  those  of  the  British  commissioners,  and  they  simi- 
larly expressed  their  desire  to  be  of  service  to  the  American  people 
by  giving  the  Washington  government  the  benefit  of  their  costly  expe- 
rience in  three  years  of  war. 

99 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAE 

ALLIES    CONTINUE   THEIR   WESTERN    DRIVE 

Following  the  spring  drive  of  the  Allies  on  the  western  front 
and  the  retirement  of  the  Germans  to  the  so-called  Hindenburg  line, 
the  British  and  French  continued  their  offensive  during  the  months 
of  May,  June  and  July,  1917,  which  concluded  the  third  year  of 
the  great  struggle.  Great  battles  in  the  Champagne  and  along  the 
Aisne  were  fought  hy  the  French,  who  in  April  had  captured  Aube- 
rive,  and  they  advanced  their  forces  from  one  to  five  miles  along 
a  fifty-mile  front,  inflicting  great  and  continual  losses  on  the  enemy. 
At  the  end  o;*!  the  third  year,  the  French  line  ran  from  northwest 
of  Soissons,  through  Rheims,  to  Auberive.  French  troops  also 
appeared  in  Flanders  during  this  period  and  co-operated  with  the 
British  on  the  left  of  Field  Marshal  Haig's  forces.  The  chief  com- 
mand of  the  French  armies  was  in  the  hands  of  General  Petain,  the 
gallant  defender  of  Verdun,  who  was  appointed  chief  of  staff  after 
the  battle  of  Craonne. 

The  continuation  of  the  British  offensive  northeast  of  Arras, 
following  the  bloody  battle  of  Vimy  Ridge,  which  was  firmly  held  by 
the  Canadians  against  desperate  counter-attacks,  placed  the  British 
astride  the  Hindenburg  line,  and  the  Germans  retired  to  positions  a 
mile  or  two  west  of  the  Drocourt-Queant  line.  These  they  held  as 
the  third  year  closed  at  the  end  of  July. 

In  June,  1917,  the  British  began  an  attack  on  Messines  and 
Wytschaete,  in  an  effort  to  straighten  out  the  Ypres  salient.  By  this 
time  their  flyers  dominated  the  air,  and  they  had  gained  the  immense 
advantage  of  artillery  superiority.  By  way  of  preparation,  the  British 
sappers  and  miners  had  spent  an  entire  year  in  mining  the  earth 
beneath  the  German  positions,  and  the  offensive  was  begun  with  an 
explosion  so  terrific,  when  the  mines  were  sprung,  that  it  was  heard 
in  London.  Following  immediately  with  the  attack,  the  British  won 
and  consolidated  the  objective  ground,  capturing  more  than  7,500 
German  -prisoners  and  great  stores  of  artillery.  This  victory  placed 
them  astride  the  Ypres-Commines  canal,  having  advanced  three  miles 
on  an  eight-mile  front.  Portuguese  and  Belgian  troops  assisted  in  this 
offensive,  which  resulted  in  the  greatest  gain  the  Allies  had  made  in 
Belgium  since  the  German  invasion.  Fighting  in  this  terrain  had  been 
confined  for  many  months  to  trench-raiding  operations. 

GERMAN  LOSSES  TO  JULY,  1917 

It  is  estimated  that  during  April,  May,  and  June  the  Germans 
suffered  350,000  casualties  on  the  western  front.  The  totals  of  the 
German  official  lists  of  losses  for  the  entire  war  to  July  19,  1917,  were 
as  follows:  Killed  or  died  of  wounds,  1,032,800;  died  of  sickness, 
72,960 ;  prisoners  and  missing,  591,966 ;  wounded,  2,825,581 ;  making 
a  grand  total  of  casualties  of  4,523,307.  The  German  naval  and 
colonial  casualties  were  not  included  in  this  total. 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

FURTHER  GAINS  LN  FLANDERS 

Fighting  continued  almost  steadily  in  Flanders  during  the  month 
of  August,  although  the  Allies  were  greatly  hampered  in  their  opera- 
tions by  heavy  rains  and  mud.  On  a  nine-mile  front  east  and  north  of 
Ypres,  a  long  drawn-out  battle  carried  the  advancing  French  and 
British  troops  more  than  a  mile  into  the  intricate  hostile  trench 
system  on  August  16,  after  successive  advances  on  previous  days. 
From  Dreigrachten  southward  the  French  surged  across  the  River 
Steenbeke,  capturing  all  objectives,  while  at  the  same  time  the  British 
occupied  considerable  territory  in  the  region  of  St.  Julien  and  Lange- 
marck,  captured  the  latter  town,  and  carried  the  fighting  beyond 
Langemarck.  The  main  difficulty  encountered  was  the  mud  in  the 
approaches  to  the  town,  the  infantry  plunging  deep  into  the  bog  at 
every  step.  Not  infrequently  the  soldiers  had  to  rescue  a  comrade  who 
had  sunk  to  the  waist  in  the  morass,  but  they  continued  to  push  for- 
ward steadily,  facing  machine-gun  fire  from  hidden  redoubts  and 
battling  their  way  past  with  bombs  and  rifle  fire.  There  were  concrete 
gunpits  about  the  positions  in  front  of  the  town,  which  was  flooded 
from  the  Steenbeke  River,  but  the  infantry  divided  and  bombed 
their  way  about  on  either  side  until  they  had  encircled  the  town  and 
passed  beyond,  where  the  Germans  could  be  seen  running  away.  Little 
resistance  was  offered  in  the  town  itself,  but  the  Germans  suffered 
severely  from  the  preliminary  bombardment,  which  worked  havoc  in 
their  ranks,  according  to  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  Langemarck 
region.  The  contact  between  the  French  and  British  forces  was  excel- 
lent throughout  the  fight ;  in  fact,  the  perfect  co-operation  of  the  two 
armies  continued  to  be  one  of  the  minor  wonders  of  the  war. 

CANADIAN  VICTORIES  AT  LENS 

Canadian  troops  added  to  their  laurels  by  the  storming  and  cap- 
ture of  Hill  70,  dominating  the  important  mining  center  of  Lens,  in 
northern  France,  August  15,  following  up  their  victory  by  the  occu- 
pation of  the  fortified  suburbs  of  the  city  and  apparently  insuring  its 
redemption  from  German  hands,  after  a  struggle  that  had  lasted  for 
two  years. 

The  men  of  the  Dominion  swept  the  Germans  from  the  famous 
hill,  defeated  all  counter-attacks,  and  thus  gained  command  of  the 
entire  Loos  salient.  It  was  on  this  hill  that  the  British  forces  under 
Sir  John  French  were  badly  broken  in  their  efforts  to  reach  Lens 
in  the  first  battle  of  Loos,  in  September,  1915.  Hill  70  was  the  last 
high  ground  held  by  the  Germans  in  the  region  of  the  Artois,  and 
its  fail  menaced  their  whole  line  south  to  Queant  and  north  to  La 
Bassee. 

The  Canadian  attack  began  at  4:25  o'clock,  just  as  the  first  hint 
of  dawn  was  appearing.  All  night  the  British  big  guns  had  been 
pouring  a  steady  stream  of  high  explosive  shells  inro  the  German 
positions,  great  detonations  overlapping  one  another  like  the  rapid 

32 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

crackling  of  machine-gun  fire  and  swelling  into  a  mighty  volume 
of  thunder  that  shook  the  earth  and  stunned  the  senses.  Then,  a 
short  time  before  the  hour  set  for  the  attack  arrived,  the  batteries 
ceased  abruptly  and  a  strange,  almost  oppressive  stillness  crept  over 
the  terrain  which  until  then  had  been  an  inferno  of  crashing  noise 
and  death.  It  had  been  raining  and  gray  clouds  still  hung  over  the 
trenches  where  crouched  the  Canadian  infantrymen,  waiting  eagerly 
for  the  arrival  of  the  moment  which  would  summon  them  to  attack. 

Suddenly,  ten  minutes  before  the  time  set  for  the  advance, 
every  British  gun  within  range  broke  out  with  a  hurricane  of  shell- 
ing, and  solid  lines  of  crimson  lightning  belched  from  the  German 
trenches  as  the  explosives  broke  about  them.  To  this  lurid  picture 
was  added  the  spectacle  of  burning  oil,  which  the  British  threw  on 
the  enemy  lines.  Great  clouds  of  pinkish  colored  smoke  rolled  across 
the  country  from  the  flaming  liquid  and  the  murky  sky  threw  back 
myriad  colors  from  the  conflagration  below. 

The  moment  of  attack  arrived,  and  as  the  British  guns  dropped 
their  protecting  barrage  fire  in  front  of  the  Canadian  trenches,  the 
clouds  parted  and  the  yellow  crescent  moon  appeared.  Under  the 
light  of  this  beacon  the  Canadians  leaped  over  the  parapets  and 
began  their  methodical  advance  behind  their  barrage  fire. 

The  British  barrage  was  without  a  flaw,  says  an  eyewitness. 
Behind  it  the  Canadians  mounted  Hill  70  and  swept  along  the  rest 
of  the  line.  On  the  crest  of  the  hill,  where  so  much  blood  had  been 
spilled  before,  heavy  fighting  might  have  been  expected,  for  the  posi- 
tion was  well  manned  with  machine  guns.  The  resistance  here,  how- 
ever, was  not  strong,  and  it  was  not  until  the  dwellings  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  suburbs  were  reached  that  vigorous  fighting  occurred. 
The  ground  over  which  the  infantry  advanced  was  honeycombed 
with  British  shell  holes  and  the  barbed  wire  defenses  had  been  leveled, 
so  that  they  gave  little  trouble. 

FIGHT    IN    CELLARS    AND   DUGOUTS 

The  first  serious  resistance  from  the  Germans  was  met  at  a 
point  where  the  enemy  was  strongly  intrenched  in  connecting  cel- 
lars and  there  sanguiiiary  fighting  occurred.  The  place  was  a  sample 
of  many  other  suburbs  about  Lens.  The  city  is  surrounded  by  col- 
liery communities  which  are  so  close  together  and  so  near  the  city 
proper  that  they  really  form  part  of  the  town.  Lens,  before  the  war, 
had  a  population  of  30,000,  but  had  become  a  mass  of  ruins. 

Following  their  usual  tactics,  the  Germans  had  carried  out  sys- 
tematic destruction  of  the  houses  and  had  constructed  strong  under- 
ground defenses.  The  whole  city  was  undermined  with  tunnels  and 
dugouts,  which  had  been  reinforced  with  concrete,  and  most  of  the 
ruined  buildings  had  been  turned  into  machine-gun  emplacements. 

The  effect  of  the  preliminary  British  bombardment  was  most 
demoralizing  to  the  enemy.  The  first  German  prisoners  taken  were 
in  a  completely  dazed  state  as  a  result  of  the  terrific  bombardment 

33 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAB 

they  had  undergone,  and  other  Germans  .were  seen  to  flee  to  the  rear, 
deserting  their  posts  as  the  attack  began. 

The  result  of  this  preliminary  fire  was  shown  in  the  speed  of 
the  Canadian  infantry's  advance.  The  extreme  depth  reached  in 
the  first  stage  was  1,500  yards,  and  this  was  achieved  in  ninety-three 
minutes.  This  new  front,  taken  into  conjunction  with  positions 
secured  previously  in  the  southwestern  outskirts  of  Lens,  established 
an  angular  line  like  a  pair  of  shears  whose  points  reached  out  to  the 
north  and  south  of  the  city. 

As  the  Canadians  pushed  in  on  the  northwest,  a  simultaneous 
advance  was  started  by  the  troops  on  the  lower  blade  of  the  shears, 
and  close  fighting  began,  with  the  Germans  intrenched  in  their  con- 
creted cellars,  which  were  linked  up  with  barbed  wire  and  filled 
with  hundreds  of  machine  guns.  The  capture  of  the  entire  city  of 
Lens  was  then  only  a  matter  of  time,  as  Hill  70  insured  the  holding 
of  the  ground  won  by  the  Canadians,  German  reinforcements  being 
placed  under  the  range  of  irresistible  fire  from  that  dominating 
height.  Among  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  attack  were  many  German 
lads  apparently  not  more  than  17  years  of  age. 

The  German  commander.  Prince  Rupprecht  of  Bavaria,  made 
frantic  efforts  to  recapture  the  lost  positions  around  Lens.  The 
taking  of  Hill  70  stirred  the  German  high  command  as  nothing  else 
had  done  on  the  western  front  for  many  months,  and  a  grim  battle 
was  waged  for  several  days.  On  August  16  the  enemy  came  on 
ten  separate  times,  but  they  seldom  got  close  enough  to  the  Canadians 
for  fighting  with  bayonet  or  bomb.  The  Prussian  Guards  participated 
in  the  counter-attacks  and  were  subjected  to  a  terrible  concentrated 
fire  from  the  British  artillery  and  Canadian  machine  guns.  Their 
losses  were  frightful  and  all  German  efforts  to  retake  Hill  70  came 
to  naught,  while  their  hold  on  the  central  portion  of  the  mining  city 
became  most  precarioiis,  as  the  Canadians  consolidated  the  advan- 
tageous positions  their  valor  had  finally  won. 

RUSSIAN    VICTORIES    AND    COLLAPSE 

After  the  Russian  revolution  in  March,  191'i,  the  military  affa,irs 
of  the  new  nation  entered  upon  a  curious  phase.  At  first  the  Russian 
army  made  a  feint  to  advance  on  Pinsk,  to  cover  the  actual  opera- 
tions resumed  in  the  month  of  July  against  Lemberg.  This  latter 
front  extended  for  eighteen  and  a  half  miles  and  was  held  by  troops 
known  as  ** Regiments  July  First."  These  troops,  reinvigorated  by 
the  consciousness  of  political  liberty,  confounded  German  military 
prophets  by  the  magnitude  and  extent  of  the  oft'ensive  which  they 
began.  Led  by  Alexander  Kerensky,  the  revolutionary  minister  of 
war,  and  observed  by  American  army  officers,  they  forced  the  Teutons 
to  evacuate  Brzezany,  and  then  captured  many  important  positions, 
irujluding  terrain  west  and  south  of  Halicz  and  strongly-defended 
positions  northwest  of  Stanislau.     On  July  11  Halicz  was  taken,  thus 


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.  Above — A  company  of  American  infantry  enjoying  a  well-earned  rest  after  cap- 
turing the  German  seooncl-line  trenches  in  the  forest  of  Argonne,  the  scene  of  desperate 
and  protracted  fighting  in  the  fall  of  1918.  (Copijrif/ht  by  C.  P.  I.,  Photo  from  U.  d  U.) 
Below — A  party  of  Serbian  oflicers  trying  the  effects  of  gas  while  on  a  visit  to  the 
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UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

smasliing  tlie  Austro-German  front  between  Brzezany  and  the  Car^ 
patiiians. 

This  Russian  operation  broadened  by  mid-July,  so  that  it 
extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Riga  to  the  Roumanian  front,  a  distance 
of  800  miles.  The  Germans  were  reported  to  be  rushing  troops  from 
the  Italian  and  French  fronts.  Widespread  enthusiasm  was  created 
throughout  Russia,  and  the  moral  effect  on  the  other  entente  powers 
was  tremendous. 

Before  the  third  year  closed,  at  the  end  of  July,  however,  Rus- 
sia's offensive  suffered  a  collapse.  German  spies,  anarchists,  peace 
fanatics,  and  other  agitators  succeeded  in  destroying  the  morale  of 
some  of  the  Russian  troops  in  Galicia,  where  a  retreat  became  neces- 
sary when  unit  after  unit  refused  to  obey  orders.  Brzezany,  Halicz, 
Tarnopol,  Stanislau  and  Kaloma  were  lost,  together  with  all  the 
remaining  ground  gained  during  the  offensive.  The  Russians  sur- 
rendered many  prisoners,  heavy  guns,  and  an  abundance  of  supplies 
and  ammunition. 

The  death  penalty  was  invoked  as  a  check  to  further  insubordina- 
tions and  the  provisional  government  introduced  a  policy  of  "blood 
and  iron"  in  an  effort  to  avert  disaster. 

South  of  the  Carpathians  and  in  the  Vilna  region  there  was  little 
disaffection  among  the  Russian  troops,  and  Russia  had  not  yet  thrown 
up  her  hands,  although  the  situation  on  the  eastern  front  was  disap- 
pointing to  the  Allies.  Alexander  Kerensky,  a  popular  hero,  became 
the  strong  man  of  Russia.  A  counter-revolution  was  promptly  and 
forcibly  crushed  in  Petrograd  and  an  ''extraordinary  national  coun- 
cil," meeting  at  Moscow,  August  25,  took  steps  to  end  the  crisis. 
All  loyal  Russians,  conservative  and  radical,  were  called  to  the  aid  of 
Kerensky,  who  ignored  factional  and  party  lines  and  succeeded  in 
bringing  something  like  order  out  of  the  political  chaos  in  the  new 
republic.  Every  effort  was  made  to  restore  the  power  as  well  as  the 
will  of  Russia  to  gain  ultimate  victory,  and  Elihu  Root,  head  of  a 
United  States  commission  to  Russia,  assured  the  American  people  on 
his  return  from  Petrograd  that  the  ill  effects  of  the  revolution  would 
soon  pass  away,  leaving  Russia  once  more  united  for  action  against 
the  Teuton  foe. 

On  August  15,  Nicholas  Romanoff,  the  deposed  czar  of  Russia, 
and  his  entire  family  were  removed  from  the  palace  at  Tsarskoe-Selo, 
near  Petrograd,  and  transported  to  Tobolsk  in  Siberia.  Fifty  serv- 
ants who  were  devoted  to  him  accompanied  the  ex-emperor  into  exile. 
Instead  of  the  gorgeous  imperial  train  in  which  he  was  wont_  to 
travel,  an  ordinary  train  composed  of  three  sleeping  cars,  a  dining 
ear,  and  several  third-class  coaches  was  used  for  the  transportation 
of  Nicholas  and  his  party,  which  included  the  former  Empress 
Alexandra,  whose  pro-German  attitude  was  a  prime  cause  of  his 
downfall.  On  arrival  at  Tobolsk  the  ex-czar  and  his  entourage  were 
received  as  political  prisoners. 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

GERMAN  SUBMAEINE  CAMPAIGN  FAILS 

The  campaign  of  unrestricted  submarine  warfare,  which  was 
relied  upon  by  Germany  to  win  the  war  by  the  extinction  of  the 
British  mercantile  marine  and  the  stoppage  of  transatlantic  supplies, 
had  proved  a  failure  by  August,  1917,  after  six  months'  duration. 
While  the  tonnage  destroyed  by  the  undersea  instruments  of  fright- 
fulness  was  sufficiently  serious  to  cause  grave  alarm  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  it  formed  but  a  small  percentage  of  the  ships  actively 
and  continually  engaged  in  the  transportation  of  munitions  and 
supplies,  while  it  was  practically  counterbalanced  by  the  activities 
of  Allied  shipbuilders  and  by  the  seizure  for  Allied  service  of  interned 
German  ships  in  the  countries  that  entered  the  war  subsequent  to 
February  1,  1917,  when  the  campaign  of  unrestricted  destruction 
began.  Determined  efforts  were  made  by  the  British,  French  and 
United  States  navies  to  cope  with  the  undersea  enemy,  and  these  were 
increasingly  successful.  Many  merchant  ships  and  transports  were 
convoyed  to  safety  by  the  destroyers  of  the  three  great  naval  Allies, 
and  by  August  the  fear  that  Britain  could  be  starved  out  by  means 
of  German  submarines  had  practically  disappeared.  The  record  of 
einkings  of  British  vessels  for  the  first  twenty-four  weeks  after  the 
"unrestricted"  warfare  began  was  as  follows: 

Over  Under 
1,600  1,600  Smaller 

Week                       tons.  tons,  craft. 

Fifteenth 22         10  6 

Sixteenth 27           5  0 

Seventeenth    21           7  0 

Eighteenth    15           5  11 

Nineteenth    14           3  7 

Twentieth    14          4  8 

Twenty-first    21           3  1 

Twenty-second  ...     18           3  0 

Twenty-third    21           2  0 

Twenty -fourth    ...     14          2  3 


Over  Under 

1,600 

1,600  Smaller 

Week 

tons. 

tons. 

craft. 

First   

....     14 

9 

3 

Second   

....      13 

4 

3 

Third 

....      16 

8 

21 

Fourth    

, . . .      19 

7 

10 

Fifth    

18 

13 
2 

6 

Sixth    

...     17 

6 

Seventh   

, . . .     19 

9 
15 

12 

Eighth    

, . . .     40 

9 

Ninth    

...     38 

13 

8 

Tenth   

...     24 

22 

16 

Eleventh    

,...      18 

5 

3 

Twelfth    

...     18 

5 

3 

Thirteenth     . , . 

...      18 

1 

2 

Fourteenth    . . . 

...     15 

3 

5 

Total 474       164       143 

Grand  total  of  ships  sunk 781 


KESra  OF  GREECE  DEPOSED 

King  Constantine  I  of  Greece  was  forced  by  the  Allies  to  abdicate 
feis  throne  on  June  12,  1917,  in  favor  of  his  second  son.  Prince  Alex- 
ander. The  kingdom  remained,  but  not  a  pro-German  one  as  before. 
In  order  to  block  the  designs  of  the  King  and  court,  who  were  doing 
their  best  to  deliver  Greece  to  the  Germans,  the  Entente  powers  were 
obliged  to  make  a  succession  of  demands  upon  the  Greek  government, 
including  the  demobilization  of  most  of  the  army,  the  surrender  of  the 
fleet,  and  the  withdrawal  of  Greek  troops  from  Thessaly.  In  an  effort 
to  enforce  their  demands  the  Entente  allies  landed  marines  in  Athens 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

— who  were  fired  upon — and  finally  declared  an  embargo  on  imports 
into  Greece.  Turmoil  and  intrigue  continued,  and  pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  Constantine  which  compelled  him  to  abdicate  the 
throne.  Venizelos  returned  as  premier  and  Greece  was  announced  as 
a  belligerent  on  the  side  of  the  Entente. 

THE  ITALIAN   CAMPAIGN 

In  the  Trentino  the  Italians  took  the  offensive  in  June  and  after 
terrible  fighting  captured  the  Austrian  positions  on  Monte  Ortigara 
and  Agnello  Pass.  These  they  were  forced  to  relinquish,  however,  in 
the  face  of  Austrian  counter-attacks. 

The  Italian  campaign  on  the  Isonzo  and  in  the  Trentino,  con- 
tinued throughout  the  summer,  was  perhaps  the  most  scientific  of  all 
the  campaigns,  involving  tremendous  technical  difficulties,  which  were 
solved  with  amazing  ingenuity  and  skiU.  The  campaign  was  largely 
an  engineers'  and  an  artilleryman's  war,  waged  in  the  mountains, 
much  of  it  in  regions  of  perpetual  snow — highly  picturesque  and 
spectacular.  Finally,  it  was  as  little  destructive  as  war  well  can  be, 
because  the  Italians  were  fighting  in  territories  which  they  hoped  to 
hold  after  the  conflict,  and  they  spared  the  towns  and  villages  to  the 
greatest  extent  possible. 

BRITISH  CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  EAST 

The  capture  of  Bagdad  by  the  British  in  March,  1917,  after  a 
brilliant  campaign  in  Mesopotamia,  had  a  deep  moral  effect  in  the 
Orient,  particularly  in  Arabia,  where  the  natives  revolted  against 
Turkish  rule  and  established  an  independent  government  in  Mecca. 

In  the  Holy  Land  the  British  in  1917  opened  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  East.  Their  advance  by  August  1  had  carried  them 
nearly  to  Gaza.  Their  objective  was  Jerusalem,  which  the  Turks 
partly  evacuated  at  their  approach,  after  doing  untold  damage  in  the 
holy  city  and  inflicting  many  atrocities  upon  the  inhabitants, 

WAR  MISSIONS  OF  THE  ALLIES 

In  cementing  America's  association  with  the  nations  which  had 
become  her  allies,  numerous  exchanges  of  missions  were  arranged. 
France,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  Belgium,  Russia,  Japan  and  other 
entente  belligerents  sent  delegations  to  the  United  States  as  a  step 
toward  unification,  military,  financial  and  otherwise.  The  United 
States  i^ent  missions  to  Russia  and  other  countries. 

AERIAL  ATTACKS  ON  LONDON 

Cities  from  Bagdad  to  London  were  subject  to  aerial  raids  by 
the  Germans  during  the  summer,  notable  attacks  being  those  by  Zep- 
pelins and  aeroplanes  on  London  and  the  eastern  coast  cities  of 

England.     In  five  attacks  on  England  in  May,  June  and  July,  298 

37 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

persons  were  killed  and  863  injured.     Insistent  demands  were  then 
made  by  the  English  people  for  reprisals  in  kind. 

AN  ESTIMATE  OP  CASUALTIES 

An  estimate  of  the  total  war  losses,  made  near  the  close  of  the 
third  year  of  the  war  and  voiced  by  Arthur  Henderson  of  the  British 
War  Council,  placed  the  number  of  men  killed  at  7,000,000  since 
August,  1914.  French  general  headquarters  on  August  1  estimated 
■<hat  1,500,000  Germans  had  been  killed  up  to  March  1.  Mr.  Henderson 
estimated  the  total  casualties  of  the  war  at  more  than  45,000,000. 

WHEN  THE  THIRD  YEAR  CLOSED 

The  third  year  of  the  world  war  closed  in  July,  1917,  with  the 
fortunes  of  conflict  favoring  the  Entente,  except  for  uncertainty  as 
to  the  outcome  of  the  Russian  situation.  On  the  western  front  in 
Europe  the  Teutons  found  themselves  on  the  defensive  at  the  advent 
of  the  fourth  year.  They  were  fighting  on  lines  newly  established 
after  forced  retirement  from  terrain  which  they  had  won  in  earlier 
days  at  a  tremendous  sacrifice. 

Following  the  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States,  Cuba  and 
Liberia  declared  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  Allies.  Panama 
pledged  the  United  States  her  aid  in  defending  the  Panama  Canal. 
Costa  Rica  put  her  naval  bases  at  its  disposal.  China,  Bolivia,  Guate- 
mala and  Brazil  severed  diplomatic  relations  with  Germany.  Uru- 
guay expressed  her  sympathy  with  the  United  States.  Late  in  July 
Siam  entered  the  war  against  the  central  powers,  and  on  August  14 
China  formally  declared  war  against  Germany  and  Austria.  This 
made  a  total  of  seventeen  nations  arrayed  against  the  central  powers. 

As  to  the  prospects  for  the  fourth  year  of  the  war,  which  opened 
in  August,  1917,  American  sentiment  was  expressed  by  the  New  York 
Sun,  which  said  editorially:  "We  expect  today  as  at  first  that  the 
end  will  be  catastrophic  overthrow  for  the  Kaiser  and  the  military 
party  of  Germany,  and  a  dreary  expiation  by  the  German  people  of 
their  sin  in  allowing  themselves  to  be  dragooned  into  the  most 
immoral  enterprise  of  the  ages." 

UNITED  STATES  WAR  ACTIVITIES 

The  Army  bill  providing  for  raising  a  new  national  army  by 
selective  draft  duly  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the 
United  States  Senate  and  was  signed  by  President  Wilson  on  May 
18,  1917.  The  President  forthwith  issued  a  proclamation  calling  on 
all  male  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  between  the  ages  of  21  and 
30  to  register  for  the  draft  on  the  following  June  5.  At  the  same 
time  he  formally  declined  the  offer  of  Col.  Roosevelt  to  raise  a  volun- 
teer army  for  immediate  service  in  France. 

On  June  5,  the  day  of  registration,  9,700,000  young  men  of  all 
classes  registered  in  their  home  districts  throughout  the  country.    It 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

was  then  decided  to  call  apprcsimately  650,000  men  to  the  colors  as 
the  first  national  army.  The  formal  drawing  of  the  serial  numbers 
allotted  to  registrants  occurred  in  Washington  late  in  July.  District 
boards  were  appointed  to  examine  the  men  drafted  and  receive  appli- 
cations for  exemption,  also  appeal  boards  in  every  State.  The  month 
of  August  was  largely  occupied  in  preparing  the  quotas  from  each 
district  and  meanwhile  cantonments  were  made  ready  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  new  army,  while  thousands  of  prospective  officers  received 
intensive  training  in  special  camps  at  various  points,  east  and  west, 
and  were  commissioned  in  due  course.  Orders  were  then  issued  for 
the  men  selected  to  report  at  the  cantonments  in  three  divisions  of 
200,000  men  each,  at  intervals  of  fifteen  days,  beginning  September  5. 
The  National  Guards  of  the  various  States  were  also  mobilizeid 
August  9,  mustered  into  the  Federal  service,  and  ordered  to  special 
training  camps,  mostly  situated  in  the  South.  The  work  of  assembl- 
ing equipment  and  supplies  for  the  new  army  was  rushed  and  the 
whole  country  hummed  with  the  task  of  preparation. 

AMERICAN  TROOPS  IN  FRANCE 

France  and  Great  Britain  having  joined  in  a  request  for  the 
dispatch  of  an  American  expeditionary  force  to  France  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  the  United  States  government  on  May 
18  ordered  25,000  troops  to  France  under  the  command  of  Major- 
General  John  J.  Pershing.  A  large  force  of  marines  was  subse- 
quently ordered  to  join  them,  bringing  the  strength  of  the  expedition 
up  to  approximately  40,000  men.  General  Pershing  and  his  staff 
preceded  the  troops  to  Europe,  reaching  London  June  8  and  Paris 
June  13,  and  being  enthusiastically  welcomed  in  both  the  Allied 
capitals. 

Convoyed  by  American  warships,  the  first  and  second  contin- 
gents of  American  troops  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  safety,  despite  two 
submarine  attacks  on  the  transports  in  which  at  least  one  U-boat 
was  sunk.  Without  the  loss  of  a  ship  cc  &  man  the  troops  were 
landed  in  France  on  June  26  and  27,  to  be  received  with  outbursts 
of  joy  by  the  French  populace,  who  sav,in  their  coming  the  assur- 
ance of  final  delivery  from  the  Germain  invaders.  Training  camps 
awaited  their  coming  and  there,  behind  the  French  lines  they  spent 
the  months  of  July  and  August  in  active  preparation  for  service 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes  against  the  German  enemy  on  the  west- 
ern front. 

U.  S.  WARSHIPS  BUSY 

America's  destroyer  flotilla  arrived  in  British  waters  in  May 
and  immediately  co-operated  with  the  British  fleet  in  the  patrol  of 
its  home  waters  and  the  bunt  for  German  submarines.     The  flotilla 

HP 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

was  commanded  by  Viee-Admiral  Sims  and  did  effective  work  from 
the  very  start. 

On  Auigust  11  it  was  announced  in  Washington  that  Admiral 
Sims  had  sent  to  the  Navy  Department  a  series  of  reports  detailing 
the  work  of  the  American  ships  and  men  under  his  command.  These 
were  said  to  present  a  thrilling  story  of  accomplishment,  telling 
of  many  encounters  with  U-boats  and  also  of  the  rescue  of  numerous 
crews  of  ships  which  had  been  destroyed  by  submarines  off  the 
coasts  of  England  and  Ireland. 

Soon  after  war  was  declared  by  the  United  States,  American 
warships  took  over  from  British  and  French  vessels  the  patrol  of 
American  coasts,  while  Brazil  added  her  navy  to  that  of  the  United 
States  for  the  protection  of  South  American  waters  against  the 
common  enemy. 

THE  FIRST  "liberty  LOAN" 

On  May  2,  a  few  weeks  after  the  United  States  entered  the  war, 
subscriptions  were  opened  for  the  first  block  of  $2,000,000,000  of 
the  ''Liberty  loan"  of  $7,000,000,000  authorized  by  Congress  in 
April.  Oreat  popular  interest  was  evinced  and  all  classes  of  the 
American  people  hastened  to  subscribe  for  the  Sy2-per  cent  bonds, 
so  that  when  the  books  were  closed  on  June  15  it  was  found  that 
the  loan  had  been  oversubscribed  by  $1,035,226,850  and  the  list  of 
subscribers  contained  no  fewer  than  4,000,000  names.  Most  of  the 
amount  raised  was  used  for  loans  to  the  Allies,  to  be  expended  in 
the  United  States  for  war  munitions  and  supplies. 

A  war  budget  appropriating  $3,340,000,000  for  current  expenses 
of  the  war  was  passed  by  Congress  and  signed  by  the  President 
June  15;  also  an  Espionage  bill  which  among  other  important  pro- 
visions gave  the  President  power  to  place  an  embargo  on  all  exports. 
On  July  14  the  House  of  Representatives  passed  an  Aviation  bill 
appropriating  the  sum  of  $640,000,000  for  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  an  aerial  fleet  for  home  and  foreign  service. 

FOOD  control  bill  PASSED 

On  August  10  President  Wilson  signed  the  Pood  Control  bill 
adopted  by  Congress  after  prolonged  debate,  and  he  at  once 
announced  the  formal  appointment  of  Mr.  Herbert  C.  Hoover  as 
United  States  food  administrator.  Mr.  Hoover,  whose  work  as 
chief  of  the  Belgian  Relief  Comm'Gsion  had  made  him  world  famous, 
stated  the  threefold  object''  of  the  food  administration  under  the 
bill  as  follows: 

''First,  to  so  guide  the  trade  in  the  fundamental  food  com- 
modities as  to  eliminate  vicious  speculation,  extortion,  and  waste- 
ful practices,  and  to  stabilize  prices  in  the  essential  staples.  Sec- 
ond, to  guard  our  exports  so  that  against  the  world's  shortage  we 
retain  sufficient  supplies  for  our  own  people,  and  to  cooperate  with  tKe 

40 


L 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

Allies  to  prevent  inflation  of  prices ;  and,  third,  that  we  stimulate  in 
every  manner  within  our  power  the  saving  of  our  food  in  order  that  we 
may  increase  exports  to  our  Allies  to  a  point  which  will  enable  them 
to  properly  provision  their  armies  and  to  feed  their  peoples  during 
the  coming  winter." 

INTERNAL  HANDICAPS  IN  AMERICA 

While  the  United  States  was  busily  engaged  in  raising  its  new 
national  army,  innumerable  difficulties  arose  to  be  contended  with 
by  the  Federal  and  State  governments  and  local  authorities.  Not 
the  least  of  these  was  caused  by  enemy  propaganda  of  various  kinds, 
designed  to  interfere  with  the  success  of  the  selective  draft.  Active 
opposition  to  the  draft  developed  in  many  districts,  especially  in 
the  Western  states  where  the  organization  calling  itself  the  "Indus- 
trial Workers  of  the  World,"  notorious  as  the  ''I.  W.  W.,"  had 
a  considerable  following,  including  many  aliens,  and  gave  the  State 
and  municipal  authorities  much  trouble.  Attacks  on  munition 
plants,  strikes,  and  incipient  riots  were  frequent,  until  the  Federal 
government  declared  its  determination  to  meet  all  such  demonstra- 
tions with  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  Pacifists  and  pro-Germans  of 
various  stripes  did  their  utmost  to  retard  war  preparations,  and 
caused  much  annoyance,  without,  however,  preventing  the  steady 
march  of  the  selected  men  to  the  training  cantonments,  where  the 
first  divisions  of  the  national  army  gradually  assembled.  The  presence 
in  the  country  of  so  many  aliens  of  enemy  birth  constituted  a  diffi- 
culty, but  this  had  been  foreseen  and  partly  provided  against,  and  the 
true  American  spirit  of  patriotism  steadily  prevailed  over  all  obstacles 
to  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  for  humanity.  Uncle  Sam 
prepared  to  strike — and  strike  hard. 

INTERNAL  TROUBLES  IN  GERMANt 

Meanwhile,  internal  troubles  developed  in  the  Grerman  empire. 
Weary  of  the  war,  with  hopes  of  final  victory  dwindling  month  by 
month,  a  strong  peace  party  arose  in  the  Reichstag,  committing  itself 
to  the  policy  of  a  peace  without  annexations  or  indemnities,  and  for 
a  brief  time  the  Reichstag  refused  to  vote  a  war  credit.  This  brought 
the  Kaiser,  Von  Hindenburg,  and  Von  Ludendorff  in  hot  haste  to 
Berlin,  to  exert  the  utmost  possible  pressure  of  the  military  party  on 
the  recalcitrants.  For  the  time  being  their  power  prevailed,  but  the 
German  Chancellor,  Von  Bethmann  Hollweg,  was  sacrificed,  together 
with  the  Foreign  Minister  and  other  leading  officials  of  the  empire. 
The  Chancellor  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Georg  Michaelis,  a  statesman  of 
colorless  and  practically  unknown  quality,  suspected  of  being  a  mere 
mouthpiece  of  the  Kaiser,  appointed  to  register  his  decrees  and  con- 
tinue the  policy  of  the  autocracy  in  the  conduct  of  the  war.  But  many 
peace  proposals  came  out  of  Germany  during  the  summer  and  every 
possible  German  effort  was  made  to  break  the  solidarity  of  the  Allies. 

41 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

THE  POPE  PROPOSES  PEACE 

On  August  14  Pope  Benedict  addressed  to  all  the  belligerent 
nations  a  proposal  for  a  peace  agreement,  stating  the  general  terms 
which  he  believed  might  be  found  acceptable  as  a  basis  for  the  cessa- 
tion of  hostilities.  These  included  disarmament  of  the  nations,  mutual 
condonation  of  damages,  the  establishment  of  the  principle  of  arbi- 
tration for  the  future,  the  evacuation  of  Belgian  and  French  terri- 
tory by  the  Germans,  reciprocal  restoration  of  the  German  colonies, 
and  a  peace-table  agreement  as  to  Alsace-Lorraine,  Poland,  the  Tren- 
tino,  Armenia  and  the  Balkan  states. 

Nothnig  being  said  as  to  the  causes  of  the  war  and  the  criminal 
responsibility  attaching  to  the  authors  of  the  great  conflict,  and  all  the 
nations  at  issue  being  classed  as  equally  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  the 
condonation  proposed,  the  message  from  the  Vatican  met  with  a  cool 
reception  from  the  Allied  nations,  including  the  United  States,  espe- 
cially as  they  entertained  grave  suspicions  that  it  was  inspired  from 
Berlin,  by  way  of  Vienna.  The  answers  of  President  Wilson  and  the 
British  and  French  governments  were  therefore  awaited  with  little 
expectation  that  the  hour  for  peace  had  struck. 

The  British  attitude  toward  peace  proposals  was  expressed  July 
20  by  Sir  Edward  Carson,  member  of  the  war  cabinet,  who  said: 

"If  the  Germans  want  peace  we  are  prepared  tomorrow  to  treat 
not  with  Prussianism,  but  with  the  best  of  the  German  nation,  and  as 
a  preliminary  to  such  a  treaty  and  as  an  earnest  of  their  sincerity 
that  they  don't  want  to  acquire  any  territory  or  show  violence  towards 
others,  we  tell  them  to  come  forward  and  offer  to  enter  negotiations. 
"We  make  as  the  first  condition  of  such  a  parley  that  they  shall  with- 
draw their  troops  behind  the  Rhine. 

' '  When  they  have  shown  something  like  contrition  for  the  wrongs 
and  outrages  against  humanity  which  they  have  committed  on  poor 
little  Belgium,  in  northern  France,  in  Serbia,  and  in  those  other  re- 
gions which  they  needlessly  drenched  with  blood,  we  will  be  willing  to 
enter  into  negotiations  to  see  what  can  be  done  for  release  of  the  world 
from  the  terror  of  arms." 

CANADIANS  HOLD  THEIR  GAINS 

On  August  21  Canadian  troops  smashed  their  way  with  bombs  and 
cold  steel  farther  into  the  German  defenses  of  the  ruins  of  Lens,  and 
defeated  a  desperate  simultaneous  attack  by  the  enemy,  which  devel- 
oped into  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  hand-to-hand  conflicts  on  this 
battle-scarred  front.  The  attack  began  at  dawn  with  the  capture  of 
2,000  yards  of  German  positions  on  the  outskirts  of  the  shell-torn 
mining  center,  the  Canadians  driving  their  lines  closer  about  the 
heart  of  the  city  and  gaining  possession  of  many  railway  embank- 
ments and  colliery  sidings  in  the  northwest  and  southwest  suburbs 
vhieh  had  been  strongly  fortified  for  defense  with  a  series  of  shell- 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

hole  nests  of  machine  guns.    The  battle  raged  fiercely  for  twenty-four 
hours. 

When  the  Canadians  went  *'over  the  top"  in  the  thick  haze  of 
early  dawn  of  the  21st,  they  saw  masses  of  shadowy  gray  figures 
advancing  toward  them.  The  Germans  had  planned  an  attack  to  be 
delivered  at  the  same  moment,  and  sent  in  wave  after  wave  of  infan- 
try in  desperate  efforts  to  regain  their  lost  positions.  In  the  words 
of  an  eyewitness,  the  Germans  fought  like  cornered  rats  among  the 
shell  holes  and  wire  incumbrances  of  "No  man's  Land,"  where  the 
struggle  raged,  bomb  and  bayonet  being  the  principal  weapons.  As 
the  Canadian  bayonet  did  its  deadly  work,  in  some  of  the  bitterest 
fighting  of  the  war,  the  German  officers  tried  in  vain  to  rally  their 
men  and  the  enemy  infantry  gradually  fell  back  to  the  trenches  they 
had  left.  The  Canadians  followed  closely  and,  leaping  on  the  para- 
pets, hurled  masses  of  bombs  down  among  great  numbers  of  troops 
which  had  been  collected  for  the  attack.  The  Germans  tried  to  flee 
through  the  communication  trenches,  but  the  Canadians  leaped  among 
them  with  bayonets  and  bombs,  killing  many  and  sparing  few  as 
prisoners.  Throughout  the  day  the  entire  line  was  a  seething  caldron, 
but  the  new  Canadian  positions  were  firmly  held  as  night  fell. 

Field  Marshal  Sir  Douglas  Haig  after  the  battle  sent  a  mes- 
sage of  congratulation  to  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Arthur  Currie, 
commanding  the  Canadian  forces,  and  refuted  the  German  claim 
that  the  Canadians  had  attacked  with  four  instead  of  two  divisions 
when  Hill  70  was  eaptured  by  the  gallent  fellows  from  the  Dominion. 
The  commander-in-chief  also  gave  the  Canadians  credit  for  hav- 
ing reached  all  their  objectives  in  the  battles  of  the  previous  week. 

Eight  heavy  assaults  w^ere  delivered  against  the  Canadians 
at  Lens  by  the  Germans  during  the  night  of  the  21st,  but  in  each 
ease  the  enemy  was  thrown  back  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  and 
by  afternoon  of  August  22  the  Canadir.ns  had  consolidated  all  the 
new  positions  gained.  During  the  battle  of  Lens  up  to  this  time 
(from  August  15  to  22)  the  Canadians  took  1,378  prisoners,  34 
machine  guns  and  21  trench  mortars.  The  number  of  prisoners 
taken  bore  only  a  small  ratio  to  the  losses  inflicted  on  the  Ger- 
mans, who  appeared  exhausted  when  the  assaults  ceased. 

On  August  22  the  British  launched  ,another  fierce  attack  on  the 
enemy  in  the  Langemarck  sector  of  the  front  and  forced  their  way 
to  a  considerable  depth  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  ridge  known 
as  Hill  35,  strongly  defended  hy  Irish  troops  against  Prince  Eup- 
precht's  Bavarians.  At  the  same  time  a  new^  battle  at  Verdun  was 
in  progress,  but  the  French  held  all  their  gains  against  reserves 
massed  by  the  Germans  for  desperate  counter-attacks. 

ITALIANS  IN  A  GREAT  OFFENSIVE 

On  the  Isonzo  front  the  Italian  commander,  General  Cadorna^ 
launched  a  great  offensive  while  the  British  were  active  in  Flandera, 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

and  by  August  23  liad  broken  through  the  whole  Austrian  line, 
capturing  the  town  of  Selo,  which  was  the  pivot  of  the  Austrian 
defense,  and  considered  impregnable,  and  indicting  upon  the  enemy, 
in  this  eleventh  battle  of  the  Isonzo,  the  greatest  losses  he  had  sus- 
tained since  the  capture  of  Goritz.  More  than  13,000  Austro-Hun- 
garian  prisoners  were  captured  during  the  battle,  with  thirty  guns, 
and  all  counter-attacks  were  repulsed  with  heavy  losses.  The 
whole  Selo  line  fell  before  the  heroic  onslaught  of  the  Italians,  and 
the  loss  of  this  important  position  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  Aus- 
trians.  On  August  22  Italian  warships  were  showering  shells  on 
Trieste,  the  big  Austrian  port  on  the  Adriatic  which  was  the  objec- 
tive of  the  Italian  campaign. 

HOW  ARE  THE  MIGHTY  FALLEN  ! 

"In  the  welter  of  the  conflict  an  emperor  of  Austria-Hungary  has 
died,  full  of  years  and  of  sorrow,  a  czar  of  Russia  has  stepped  from 
his  throne,  and  a  king  of  Greece  has  lost  his  crown,"  said  a  well- 
known  publicist,  reviewing  the  war  up  to  this  time. 

*'Not  one  of  the  prime  ministers  or  ministers  of  foreign  affairs 
who  conducted  the  diplomatic  maneuvers  preceding  or  immediately 
following  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  the  six  most  important  coun- 
tries of  Europe  is  still  in  power.  In  Russia,  Goremykin  and  Sazo- 
noff  are  forgotten  behind  a  line  of  successors,  equally  unstable.  In 
France,  Delcasse  left  the  foreign  office  and  Viviani  ceased  to  head  the 
cabinet,  following  the  collapse  of  Serbia  in  the  second  autumn  of 
the  war. 

"The  tragedy  of  Roumania  a  year  later  contributed  to  the  over- 
throw of  Asquith  and  his  foreign  secretary.  Sir  Edward  Grey,  in 
Great  Britain.  San  Giuliano  of  the  Italian  foreign  office  and  Salan- 
dra,  the  prime  minister,  have  passed.  Count  Berchtold,  foreign  min- 
ister of  Austria-Hungary  in  1914  (the  empire  has  no  prime  minister), 
has  passed  into  oblivion,  while  Von  Jagow  gave  up  the  management 
of  Germany's  foreign  affairs  last  autumn.  Von  Bethmann-Hollweg, 
the  last  of  the  group  to  lose  his  grip,  has  just  gone  down,  despite  the 
fact  that  he  was  not  responsible  to  any  elective  body. 

"Ministers  of  war  in  the  belligerent  countries  have  not  been  more 
stable.  Kerensky  follows  a  long  procession  in  Russia.  France  has  had 
four  war  ministers  from  Millerand  to  Painlev6,  inclusive,  while  Lord 
Kitchener,  organizer  of  Great  Britain's  most  marvelous  war  achieve- 
ment, a  volunteer  army  of  some  4,000,000  men,  sleeps  below  the  waters 
of  the  North  Sea. 

"History  has  as  ruthlessly  brushed  aside  most  of  the  army  com- 
manders of  the  early  days.  Von  Kluck,  who  led  the  Germans  on 
Paris,  is  retired.  Rennenkampf,  with  whom  the  Russians  meanwhile 
swarmed  into  East  Prussia,  is  a  memory  only.  Sir  John  French  has 
been  recalled  to  England.  That  little  group  of  generals  who  saved 
France  and  Europe  at  the  Marne  is  decimated,    Foch  and  Castelnau, 

44 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAB 

and  Manoury  are  no  longer  in  command,  while  Gallieni,  worn  out  in 
the  service  of  his  country,  was  borne  on  his  last  journey  through  the 
streets  of  Paris  on  a  sunny  spring  day  in  1916. 

' '  Even  Joffre  has  been  superseded  in  a  military  sense,  though  not 
as  an  idol  of  the  nation.  France  still  holds  him  as  close  to  her  heart 
as  Germany  possibly  could  hold  Von  Hindenburg — almost  the  only 
one  of  the  war 's  early  commanders  to  retain  his  military  power. ' ' 

RUSSIAN  CAPITAIj  IN  PERIL 

On  August  23,  Riga,  the  Russian  seaport  which  is  the  gateway  to 
Petrograd,  was  reported  in  peril  from  the  Germans,  who  were  con- 
ducting a  determined  advance  on  the  north  of  the  eastern  front  under 
the  immediate  direction  of  Field  Marshal  Von  Hindenburg.  With  a 
Japanese  mission  in  Washington,  headed  by  Viscount  Ishii,  it  was 
expected  that  steps  might  be  taken  to  send  Japanese  troops  to  the  aid 
of  the  Russians. 

Russia's  critical  internal  situation,  aggravated  by  the  new  Ger- 
man drive  against  Riga,  was  watched  by  officials  in  Washington  with 
the  gravest  concern.  While  the  taking  of  Riga  would  not  necessarily 
be  a  decisive  blow,  it  would  make  the  Baltic  more  than  ever  a  German 
lake,  leaving  the  Russian  fleet  in  the  position  of  the  mouse  in  the 
rathole  to  the  German  cat,  just  as  the  Kaiser's  fleet  was  the  mouse  to 
the  English  fleet  outside. 

The  outcome  of  the  forthcoming  extraordinary  national  council 
to  be  held  at  Moscow  was  therefore  awaited  in  Washington  with  the 
keenest  interest,  scarcely  less  keen  than  in  Russia  itself.  The  imme- 
diate fate  of  Russia,  it  was  felt,  depended  upon  the  action  of  the 
council  in  its  efforts  to  throw  off  the  demoralizing  socialistic  control 
of  the  Russian  army  and  workmen.  German  intrigues  in  Russia  were 
known  to  be  exerting  powerful  influence  to  bring  about  anarchy 
within  the  new  democracy. 

CLOSING  IN  ON  LENS 

An  advance  by  the  Canadians  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Green 
Grassier  on  the  southern  edge  of  Lens  added  greatly  to  the  strength 
of  the  British  line,  which  continued  to  tighten  steadily  about  the  heart 
of  the  city. 

The  Grassier  is  a  great  slag  heap,  and  lies  only  about  300  yards 
south  of  the  central  railway  station  of  Lens,  and  overlooks  it. 

The  Canadians  made  their  assault  before  dawn  this  time,  and  the 
attack  was  preceded  by  a  protracted  and  exceedingly  intense  bom- 
bardment of  the  German  positions.  The  Germans,  exhausted  by  the 
long  strain  of  constant  counter-attacks,  found  the  Canadians  in  their 
midst  with  little  warning.  But  the  defenders  did  not  give  up  without 
a  struggle,  and  there  was  fierce  bayonet  fighting. 

The  Grassier  was  an  important  buffer  between  the  Canadians  and 
the  defenses  of  the  city  proper,  and  the  Germans  reached  it  through 

45      " 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

tunnels  connected  witli  the  network  of  passages  and  dugouts  beneath 
Lens. 

Part  of  the  ground  about  the  Grassier  was  inundated,  due  to  the 
waterway  near  by  having  broken  its  banks,  and  this,  in  conjunction 
with  the  great  number  of  machine-gun  emplacements  on  the  elevation, 
made  it  a  particularly  difficult  position  for  attack. 

An  advance  upon  two  German  colliery  positions  adjoining  the 
Grassier  to  the  northwest,  earlier  in  the  night,  also  involved  stiff  hand- 
to-hand  fighting.  About  the  Grassier  were  numerous  shell-shattered 
buildino's,  many  of  which  had  been  strongly  fortified  by  the  Ger- 
mans. The  Canadians  bombed  their  way  systematically  through 
these  defenses,  silencing  the  machine  guns  and  clearing  out  the 
defenders. 

The  fighting  on  August  23  was  on  the  edge  of  the  city  proper, 
rather  than  in  the  suburbs.  Notwithstanding  the  tremendous  strain 
upon  the  Canadians  during  the  previous  week,  there  was  no 
diminution  in  the  strength  of  their  attacks.  They  worked  steadily 
and  methodically,  gradually  weaving  a  net  about  the  Germans,  who 
were  living  miserably  in  their  underground  positions  within  the  great 
coal  center, 

MANY  GERMANS  CAPTUBED 

In  the  three  days'  fighting  on  the  western  front  from  August 
21  to  23,  the  Entente  Allies  captured  25,000  German  prisoners  and  by 
September  1  the  total  for  August  had  reached  more  than  40,000, 
according  to  Major-General  Frederick  B,  Maurice,  chief  director  of 
the  British  war  intelligence  office.  This  topped  the  figure  of  prison- 
ers which  the  Germans  claimed  to  have  taken  in  a  single  month  on  the 
Eussian  front,  although  their  total  undoubtedly  was  composed  by  at 
least  half  of  mere  stragglers  from  the  mutinous  and  disorganized 
Russian  units. 

On  September  1,  1917,  the  positions  recaptured  by  the  French 
around  Verdun  were  safely  consolidated  in  their  possession,  every 
German  effort  being  thrown  back  in  disorder.  The  fighting  had 
developed  into  a  big-gun  duel,  in  which  the  French  continued  to 
maintain  undoubted  mastery,  and  they  were  firmly  established  once 
more  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mouse,  which  the  Germans  had  intended 
to  hold  at  all  costs.  Thus  ended  the  last  hope  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Germany,  who  apparently  was  obsessed  with  the  desire  to  conquer 
Verdun,  in  the  neighborhood  of  v;hieh  thousands  of  the  flower  of  the 
German  army  found  only  a  burial  place,  without  any  laurels  of 
victory. 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

ALLIED  GAINS  IN  THE  WEST 

The  early  autumn  of  1917  witnessed  steady  gains  by  the  British 
and  French  forces  co-operating  in  Flanders  and  to  the  South  of  the 
Belgian  border  along  the  western  front.  The  artillery  on  both  sides 
was  constantly  active,  but  with  evident  superiority  on  the  part  of 
the  Allies.  Repeated  German  attacks  were  repulsed  in  the  Cham- 
pagne and  along  the  Meuse,  while  in  the  Ypres  region  the  Allied 
troops  made  frequent  gains  in  spite  of  the  concrete  defenses  estab- 
lished by  the  enemy  to  strengthen  their  entrenchd  positions. 

Repeated  successes  of  the  Allies  along  the  Chemin  des  Dames 
finally  forced  a  Gei-man  retreat  along  a  fifteen-mile  front  which  the 
Crown  Prince  had  made  strenuous  efforts  to  hold.  The  Germans 
were  compelled  to  retire  because  French  victories  on  October  21-23 
enabled  French  guns  to  enfilade  the  Ailette  Valley  behind  the  Ger- 
man positions,  exposing  the  enemy  to  a  series  of  disastrous  flanking 
attacks  and  hampering  the  German  communications.  On  October 
30-31  the  French  bombarded  the  German  lines  vigorously.  The 
enemy  had  already  moved  their  artillery  across  the  Ailette  to  a  ridge 
north  of  the  river.  On  the  night  of  November  1  they  completed 
their  preparations  for  retreat  and  withdrew  their  infantry.  French 
patrols  approaching  the  German  lines  on  the  morning  of  November 
2  were  fired  upon  at  first,  but  on  renewing  their  reconnoissance  soon 
after  dawn  found  the  German  trenches  empty. 

It  was  impossible  for  the  Germans  to  keep  their  front  line  sup- 
plied with  ammunition  or  food,  the  carriers  of  which  were  obliged 
to  pass  through  a  tornado  of  shells  and  machine  gun  bullets  while 
crossing  the  Valley  of  the  Ailette,  where  their  every  movement  could 
be  observed  b.7  the  French.  Eventually  the  position  became  unten- 
able and  the  Germans  retired  during  the  night  to  the  North^/m  side 
of  the  Ailette  Valley.  The  best  elements  of  the  Crown  Prince's  army 
had  sustained  severe  losses  and  were  compelled  to  go  to  the  rear  to 
reconstitute  their  diminished  ranks.  The  evacuated  territor7/  North 
of  the  crest  of  Chemin  des  Dames  included  several  towns  that  had 
been  pulverized  by  bombardment,  and  the  retreat  brought  the  impor- 
tant city  of  Laon  within  range  of  the  French  guns. 

The  captures  by  the  li'rench  in  this  sector  from  September  23 
to  November  1  included  12,000  prisoners,  200  heavy  field  guns,  220 
trench  mortars,  and  720  machine  guns.  In  ten  days,  from  September 
21  to  30,  twenty-three  German  airplanes  were  destroyed  and  twenty- 
eight  forced  to  descend  badly  damaged. 

THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  CASUALTIES 

The  first  list  of  Americans  killed  and  vrounded  in  combat  with 
the  enemy  reached  Washington  on  October  17,  in  an  official  report 

47 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

from  Rear  Admiral  Sims  of  an  encounter  between  a  German  sub- 
marine and  an  American  destroyer.  One  American  sailor  was  killed 
and  five  sailora  were  wounded  when  the  submarine  torpedoed  the 
destroyer  Cassin  on  patrol  duty  in  European  waters.  The  destroyer 
was  not  sunk  and  after  making  a  gallant  fight  reached  a  British  port. 
Two  days  later  Rear  Admiral  Sims  reported  that  the  American 
troop  transport  Antilles,  homeward  bound  from  France,  was  tor- 
pedoed and  sunk  by  a  German  submarine  on  October  17.  Seventy 
men  of  the  237  aboard  lost  their  lives,  including  four  naval  enlisted 
men,  sixteen  army  enlisted  men,  three  ship 's  officers,  and  47  members 
of  the  ship's  crew.  The  Antilles  was  under  convoy  of  American 
patrol  vessels  at  the  time  it  was  sunk. 

FEENCH  TRIBUTE  TO  U.  S.  DEAD 

At  the  burial  on  November  7  of  the  first  three  American  soldiers 
killed  in  the  trenches  in  France  by  a  raiding  party  of  Germans,  a 
guard  of  French  infantrymen,  in  their  picturesque  uniforms  of  red 
and  horizon  blue,  stood  on  one  side  and  a  detachment  of  American 
soldiers  on  the  other  while  the  flag-wrapped  coffins  were  lowered  into 
the  grave,  as  a  bugler  blew  taps  and  the  batteries  nearby  fired  minute 
guns.  The  French  officer  commanding  in  the  sector  paid  an  eloquent 
tribute  to  the  fallen  Americans,  his  words  being  punctuated  by  the 
roar  of  the  guns  and  the  whistle  of  shells.    In  conclusion  he  said: 

**In  the  name  of  the  French  army  and  in  the  name  of  France,  I 
bid  farewell  to  Private  Enright,  Private  Gresham  and  Private  Hay 
of  the  American  army. 

"Of  their  own  free  will  they  had  left  a  prosperous  and  happy 
country  to  come  over  here.  They  knew  war  was  continuing  in 
Europe ;  they  knew  that  the  forces  fighting  for  honor,  love  of  justice 
and  civilization  were  still  checked  by  the  long-prepared  forces  serv- 
ing the  powers  of  brutal  domination,  oppression  and  barbarity. 
They  knew  that  efforts  were  still  necessary.  They  wished  to  give  up 
their  generous  hearts  and  they  had  not  forgotten  old  historical 
memories  while  others  forgot  more  recent  ones. 

"They  ignored  nothing  of  the  circumstances  and  nothing  had 
been  concealed  from  them — neither  the  length  and  hardships  of  war 
nor  the  violence  of  battle,  nor  the  dreadfulness  of  new  weapons,  nor 
the  perfidy  of  the  foe.  Nothing  stopped  them.  They  accepted  the 
hard  and  strenuous  life ;  they  crossed  the  ocean  at  great  peril ;  they 
took  their  places  on  the  front  by  our  side  and  they  have  fallen  facing 
the  foe  in  a  hard  and  desperate  hand-to-hand  fight.  Honor  to  them! 
Their  families,  friends  and  fellow-citizens  will  be  proud  when  they 
learn  of  their  deaths. 

"Men!  These  graves,  the  first  to  be  dug  in  our  national  soil 
And  only  a  short  distance  from  the  enemy,  are  as  a  mark  of  th« 

48 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

mighty  land  we  and  our  Allies  firmly  cling  to  in  the  common  task, 
confirming  the  will  of  the  people  and  the  army  of  the  United  States 
to  fight  with  us  to  a  finish,  ready  to  sacrifice  as  long  as  is  necessary 
until  final  victory  for  the  most  noble  of  causes,  that  of  the  liberty  of 
nations,  the  weak  as  well  as  the  mighty.  Thus  the  deaths  of  these 
humble  soldiers  appeal  to  us  with  extraordinary  grandeur. 

"We  will  therefore  ask  that  the  mortal  remains  of  these  young 
men  be  left  here,  left  with  us  forever.  We  inscribe  on  the  tombs, 
'Here  lie  the  first  soldiers  of  the  republic  of  the  United  States  to  fall 
on  the  soil  of  France  for  liberty  and  justice. '  The  passer-by  will  stop 
and  uncover  his  head.  Travelers  and  men  of  heart  will  go  out  of 
their  way  to  come  here  to  pay  their  respective  tributes. 

"Private  Enright!  Private  Gresham!  Private  Hay!  In  the 
name  of  France,  I  thank  you.    God  receive  your  souls!    Farewell!" 

ITALY  INVADED  BY  TEUTONS 

In  the  first  week  of  October  Austrian  forces,  heavily  reinforced 
by  Germans,  opened  a  gigantic  drive  in  an  effort  to  crush  Italy.  It 
soon  resulted  in  wiping  out  all  the  gains  made  by  the  Italians  under 
General  Cadoma  on  the  Isonzo  and  in  the  Trentino,  and  in  a  deter- 
mined invasion  of  Northern  Italy  by  the  enemy,  with  the  city  of 
Venice  as  its  immediate  objective. 

The  Teuton  attack  began  on  the  morning  of  October  24,  after 
an  intensive  artillery  fire  in  which  specially  constructed  gas  shells 
were  thrown  at  various  places.  The  offensive  covered  a  23-mile  front, 
from  Monte  Eombon  Southeast  through  Flitsch  and  Tohnino  and 
thence  Southward  to  the  Bainsizza  Plateau,  about  ten  miles  Northeast 
of  Goritz,  the  scene  of  desperate  fighting  in  the  drive  by  the  Italians 
which  wrested  important  mountain  positions  from  the  Austrians. 

The  greatest  shock  came  from  the  North,  where  the  Isonzo  was 
first  crossed  by  the  enemy.  At  this  point  there  occurred  a  weaken- 
ing of  certain  troops  of  the  second  Italian  army,  which  gave  the  over- 
whelming German  contingents  an  opportunity  to  pass  forward  between 
a  i>ortion  of  the  army  on  the  North  and  that  on  a  line  farther  South. 
Then  began  the  double  exposure  of  the  Southern  force  to  fire  in  the 
front  and  on  the  flank  which  required  a  steady  falling  back  until  the 
entire  Italian  army  was  moving  towards  newly-established  positions 
farther  West.  The  commanding  height  of  Monte  Nero,  which  the 
Italians  had  occupied  after  deeds  of  great  valor,  was  defended  against 
onslaughts  from  three  sides  which  gradually  resulted  in  envelop- 
ment and  the  capture  of  many  thousands  of  Italian  troops  and  hun- 
dreds of  guns. 

A  general  retreat  of  the  Italian  forces  was  then  carried  out,  with 
shielding  operations  by  rear  guards,  and  the  main  body  of  General 
Cadoma  *s  army  retired  to  the  Tagliamento. 

49 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

Tlie  Germans  encountered  stubborn  resistance  on  the  Bainsizza 
Plateau  and  heaps  of  enemy  dead  marked  the  lines  of  their  advance. 
In  one  of  the  mountain  passes  a  small  village,  commanding  the  pass, 
was  taken  and  retaken  eight  times  during  desperate  artillery,  infantry 
and  haid-to-hand  fighting. 

Goritz  was  shelled  heavily  and  what  remained  of  the  city  was 
further  reduced  to  a  mass  of  debris.  One  of  the  main  bridges  from 
Goritz  across  the  Isonzo  was  blown  up  by  the  Italians  and  the  enemy 
movement  thus  was  further  impeded. 

West  of  Goritz  the  town  of  Cormons  also  was  shelled  heavily. 
The  great  German  guns  opened  enormous  craters  and  literally  Lore 
the  towns  to  pieces. 

The  heaviest  pressure  began  to  be  felt  on  the  Carso  front  on 
Friday,  October  26.  The  Teutons  then  increased  their  bombardment 
to  deafening  intensity  and  supplemented  this  with  huge  volumes  of 
poison  gas  and  tear-shells.  The  humid  air  and  light  winds  permitted 
great  waves  of  the  deadly  gases  to  creep  low  toward  the  Italian  lines, 
the  rear  guards  protecting  themselves  with  gas  masks  and  by  hiding 
in  caverns. 

Amid  the  onslaught  of  overwhelming  masses  of  the  enemy,  the 
Italians  fell  back  slowly.  The  retreat,  as  in  other  instances  of  the 
war,  was  the  most  terrible  for  tlie  civilian  inhabitants.  There  was 
an  enormous  movement  Westward.  All  the  roads  were  packed  with 
dense  traffic,  with  four  or  five  lines  abreast  of  teams,  automobiles, 
motor  trucks,  pack  mules,  artillery  wagons,  and  ox  carts.  The  sol- 
diers marched  or  rode,  singly,  in  groups,  in  regiments,  in  brigades, 
or  in  divisions. 

' '  It  was  such  a  time  as  the  world  has  seldom  witnessed,  * '  said  a 
Ked  Cross  spectator.  "Even  fields  and  bj^'-roads  were  utilized  for 
the  colossal  migration.  The  only  wonder  was  that  the  great  army 
was  able  to  withdraw  at  all  and  establish  itself  along  the  new  line 
of  defense. 

"Many  heartrending  scenes  were  witnessed  along  the  route,  as 
the  torrential  rain  and  the  vast  zone  of  mud  increased  the  misery 
of  the  moving  multitude.  Food  was  scarce  and  many  went  without 
it  for  days,  while  sleep  was  impossible  as  the  throng  trudged  west- 
ward. The  military  hospitals  were  evacuated,  with  all  other  estab- 
lishments, and  pale  and  wounded  patients  obliged  to  join  in  the  rear- 
guard march  or  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  roads  were 
strcAvn  with  dead  horses. 

"Families  with  eight  or  ten  children,  the  youngest  clinging 
tightly  to  the  grandfather,  trudged  amid  ranks  of  soldiers  of  many 
descriptions." 

50 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

The  safe  retirement  of  the  Tagliamento  was  due  to  the  unex- 
ampled heroism  of  large  bodies  of  Italians,  of  such  spirit  as  the 
Alpine  troops  on  Monte  Nero,  who  refused  to  surrender,  and  the  regi- 
ments of  Bersaglieri  at  Monte  Maggiore,  the  members  of  which  per- 
ished to  the  last  man  rather  than  yield  ground.  It  was  by  such  resist- 
ance in  the  face  of  overwhelming  forces  of  the  enemy  that  the  civil 
population  was  able  to  retire.  And  it  was  owing  to  the  valor  of  Ital- 
ian aviators,  combating  the  Austro-German  army  of  the  air,  that  the 
fleeing  women,  children  and  old  men,  who  crowded  the  roads,  were 
not  struck  down  by  bursting  bombs. 

By  November  1  General  Cadoma's  forces  had  ejffected  their 
retirement  behind  the  Tagliamento  River  line,  but  at  the  cost  of  tre- 
mendous losses,  aggregating  180,000  prisoners  and  1,500  guns.  It 
was  soon  seen,  however,  that  the  Tagliamento  line  could  not  be  suc- 
cessfully held  against  the  enemy  and  a  further  retirement  was  car- 
ried out.  Southward  through  the  mountainous  country  to  a  shorter 
line  along  the  Piave  River  East  of  Venice  and  Northwesterly  to  the 
Trentino  boundary.  This  gave  French  and  British  reinforcements 
the  opportunity  to  arrive  in  sufficient  numbers  to  aid  in  checking  the 
invaders. 

As  one  result  of  the  Italian  reverses.  General  Cadoma  was 
relieved  of  the  chief  command,  though  he  was  credited  with  a  masterly 
retreat.    He  was  succeeded  by  General  Diaz. 

The  Austro-German  offensive  continued  steadily  for  three  weeks 
and  on  November  21  was  being  pressed  on  three  main  fronts :  First, 
along  the  Piave  River;  second,  from  the  Piave  to  the  Brenta;  third, 
from  the  Brenta  across  the  Asiago  Plateau.  The  Italian  troops  were 
holding  firm  and  inflicting  heavy  losses  on  the  enemy.  The  spirit  of 
the  Italian  people  was  calm  and  public  opinion  strongly  supported 
the  most  stubborn  resistance  to  the  invader.  Although  all  the  fruits 
of  Italy's  two  years  of  strife  had  been  swept  away  in  a  single  month 
and  a  dread  enemy  was  reaching  ever  forward,  seeking  her  most  treas- 
ured possessions  of  art  and  industry,  the  internal  dissensions  which 
Germany  probably  hoped  to  start  had  not  appeared.  The  population 
of  Venice,  however,  had  been  reduced  from  160,000  to  20,000, 

ANARCHY  RAMPANT  IN  RUSSIA 

The  Imperial  government  of  Russia,  lieaded  by  Premier  Kerensky, 
was  ousted  on  November  7,  when  a  period  of  practical  anarchy  set  in. 
On  the  evening  of  that  day  a  congress  of  workmen's  and  soldiers' 
delegates  assembled  in  Petrograd,  with  560  delegates  in  attendance. 
Without  preliminary  discussion  the  congress  elected  officers  pledged 
to  make  "a  democratic  peace."  They  included  fourteen  so-called 
Maximalists  or  members  of  the  Bolsheviki  (majority),  the  radical 
Socialist  party  suspected  of  pro-German  tendencies,  headed  by  Nikolai 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

Lenine  and  Leon  Trotzky ;  also  seven  revolutionary  Socialists.  These 
leaders  at  once  sent  an  ultimatum  to  the  Kerensky  government, 
demanding  their  surrender  within  20  minutes.  The  government 
replied  indirectly,  refusing  to  recognize  the  Bolsheviki  committeei. 
Eioting  then  broke  out  and  the  Winter  Palace,  headquarters  of  the 
provisional  govei*nment,  was  besieged  by  troops  favorable  to  the 
rebels.  The  cruiser  Aurora,  firing  from  the  Neva  River,  and  the  guns 
of  the  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  fortress  bombarded  the  palace  and  early 
next  morning  compelled  the  surrender  of  the  government  forces 
defending  it.  Women  of  the  ''Battalion  of  Death,"  armed  with 
machine  guns  and  rifles,  were  among  the  defenders,  who  held  out  for 
four  hours.  Soon  the  Bolsheviki  were  in  complete  control  of  the  city, 
Kerensky  was  in  flight,  several  members  of  his  cabinet  were  arrested 
by  the  rebels,  and  the  provisional  government  was  no  more. 

Several  weeks  of  political  and  industrial  chaos  in  Russia  followed 
the  Lenine  coup  d'  etat,  which  was  a  triumph,  probably  temporary, 
of  extremists.  A  number  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Lenine-Trotzky  faction  to  carry  on  the  government,  gave  up  their 
posts  within  a  few  days,  characterizing  the  Bolsheviki  regime  as 
"impossible"  and  as  inevitably  involving  "the  destruction  of  the 
revolution  and  the  country." 

On  November  23,  Leon  Trotzky,  styling  himself  "National  Com- 
missioner for  foreign  affairs, ' '  addressed  to  the  embassies  of  the  Allies 
in  Petrograd  a  note  proposing  "an  immediate  armistice  on  all  fronts 
and  the  immediate  opening'  of  peace  negotiations."  An  official 
announcoment  was  also  made  that  the  Bolsheviki  government  had 
decided  to  undertake  without  delay  the  reduction  of  the  Russian 
armies,  beginning  with  the  release  from  their  military  duties  of  all 
citizen  soldiers  conscripted  in  1899. 

SECOND    "liberty    LOAN"    OVERSUBSCRIBED 

The  second  "Liberty  Loan"  of  the  United  States  war  bond 
issues  was  largely  oversubscribed  by  the  patriotic  citizens  of  the 
country.  When  the  books  closed  on  October  27  it  was  announced 
that  the  subscriptions  received  from  approximately  9,000,000  per- 
sons amounted  to  over  $5,000,000,000,  the  amount  of  the  bond  issue 
being  $3,000,000  000. 

BRITISH  SMASH  HINDENBURG  LINB 

By  a  series  of  attacks  on  the  morning  of  November  21  that  took 
the  German  enemy  completely  by  surprise,  the  British  Third  army, 
under  command  of  Lieut.-Gen.  Sir  Julian  Byng,  broke  through  the 
Hindenburg  line  on  a  front  of  32  miles  between  St.  Quentin  and 
the  Scarpe,  The  following  day,  when  they  consolidated  the  new 
positions  gained,  10,000  German  prisoners  were  sent  to  the  rear, 
with  a  large  number  of  guns  and  quantities  of  material  abandoned 

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UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

by  the  astonished  enemy,  while  at  one  point  the  victorious  troops 
were  6^  miles  in  advance  of  their  former  positions  and  the  city  of 
Cambrai  was  brought  within  easy  range  of  their  guns. 

It  was  the  greatest  and  most  successful  surprise  of  the  war. 
There  was  no  preliminary  bombardment  to  warn  the  enemy,  and  the 
advance  continued  steadily  for  two  days,  when  the  towns  of  Mas- 
nieres,  Marcoing,  Ribecourt,  Havrincourt,  Graincourt,  and  Fles- 
quieres,  long  occupied  by  the  enemy,  all  were  behind  the  British  lines. 

Just  before  dawn  on  the  20th  there  was  absolute  quiet  along  the 
whole  line.  A  few  minutes  later  British  tanks  were  rumbling  along 
over  "No  Man's  Land"  flanked  and  followed  by  the  infantry.  The 
tanks  smashed  down  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  and  were  atop 
the  trenches  and  dugouts  before  their  German  defenders  were  aware 
of  their  peril. 

The  German  artillery  could  lay  down  no  barrage,  and  line  after 
line  of  trenches  had  been  captured  before  they  got  into  action.  Then 
the  British  guns  opened,  but  not  for  barrage  purposes.  They  were 
shelling  and  silencing  the  enemy  artillery. 

Following  through  the  gaps  made  by  the  tanks,  English,  Scottish, 
and  Irish  regiments  swept  over  the  enemy's  outposts  and  stormed 
the  first  defensive  system  of  the  Hindenburg  line  on  the  whole  front. 

The  infantry  and  tanks  then  swept  on  in  accordance  with  the 
program  and  captured  the  German  second  system  of  defense,  more 
than  a  mile  beyond.  This  latter  was  known  as  the  Hindenburg  sup- 
port line. 

English  rifle  regiments  and  light  infantry  captured  La  Vae- 
querie  and  the  formidable  defense  on  the  spur  known  as  Welsh  ridge. 
Other  English  county  troops  stormed  the  village  of  Ribecourt  and 
fought  their  way  through  Coillet  wood. 

In  severe  hand-to-hand  fighting  at  Flesquieres,  near  Cambrai, 
on  the  21st,  British  troops,  preceded  by  tanks,  stormed  the  town.  The 
Germans  fired  on  the  tanks  with  seven  big  guns  at  short  range.  The 
British  infantry  charged  the  guns,  captured  them,  and  killed  the 
crews.  Three  other  big  guns  were  captured  in  a  similar  manner  at 
Premy  Chapelle.  British  cavalry  captured  a  battery  at  Rumilly, 
sabering  the  crews. 

Highland  territorial  battalions  crossed  the  Grand  ravine  and 
entered  Flesquieres,  where  fighting  took  place.  "West  Riding  terri- 
torials captured  Havrincourt  and  the  German  trench  systems  north 
of  the  village,  while  the  Ulster  battalions,  covering  the  latter 's  left 
flank,  moved  Northward  up  the  West  bank  of  the  Canal  du  Nord. 

Later  in  the  day  the  advance  was  continued  and  rapid  progress 
was  made  at  all  points.  English,  Scottish,  Irish,  and  Welsh  battalions 
secured  the  crossings  on  the  canal  at  Masnieres  and  captured  Marcoing 
and  Neuf  Wood. 

53 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 


On  the  following  day,  Wednesday,  November  21,  reinforcements 
which  the  enemy  hurried  up  to  the  battlefield  to  oppose  the  British 
advance  were  driven  out  of  a  further  series  of  villages  and  other 
fortified  positions. 

Thousands  of  cavalry  co-operated  with  the  great  army  of  tanks 
and  infantry  in  continuing  the  successful  assault  begun  on  November 
20.  Open  fighting  went  on  at  many  places  and  the  mounted  troops, 
who  long  had  waited  for  a  chance  to  vindicate  their  existence  in  this 
war,  rendered  invaluable  services  in  "mopping  up" 

AMERICAN  COMMISSION  IN  EUROPE 

A  special  American  Commission,  headed  by  Colonel  Edward  M. 
House,  personal  friend  and  trusted  adviser  of  President  Wilson, 
arrived  in  London  on  November  8,  on  its  way  to  attend  the  Alli^' 
conference  which  met  in  Paris  November  22,  to  perfect  a  system  of 
co-ordination  among  the  nations  at  war  with  Germany  and  secure 
a  better  understanding  of  their  respective  needs. 

BRITISH  NEAR    JERUSALEM 

On  November  24  the  British  forces  contending  against  the  Turks 
in  Palestine  had  advanced  to  the  suburbs  of  Jerusalem,  after  inflict- 
ing a  severe  defeat  upon  the  enemy  at  Askelon,  with  Turkish  casual- 
ties of  10,000.  More  than  seventy  guns  were  captured  at  Askelon, 
and  the  British  subsequently  occupied  the  ancient  port  of  Jaffa 
(Poppa).  The  fall  of  Jerusalem  was  then  considered  imminent  and 
the  end  of  Turkish  dominion  in  the  Holy  Land  was  plainly  in  sight. 


ITALIAN   BATTLE   FP.ONT,    MAY   4,    1918. 

The  Heavy  Line  Show3  the  Position  of  the  Hostile  Armies,  When  the  Austrians  Threatened 
a,  New  Drive  in  1918.  The  Shaded  I-ane  Shows  the  Italian  Positions  Before  the  Austro-Ger- 
man  Offensive,  in  the  Fall  of  1917, 

54 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

WIN  AND  LOSE  AT   CAMBRAI 

For  the  first  time  since  the  war  began  England  celebrated  on 
November  23  the  victory  of  Field  Marshal  Haig  and  General  Byng 
at  Cambrai,  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  by  the  ringing  of  beUs  in 
London  and  other  cities.  Heavy  fighting  continued  for  several  days 
at  the  apex  of  the  wedge  driven  into  the  German  line,  especially  at 
Bourlon  Wood  and  the  village  of  Fontaine,  where  attacks  and  counter- 
attacks followed  in  rapid  succession. 

Up  to  November  30  the  British  held  their  gains  near  Cambrai 
and  that  city  lay  under  their  guns.  Then  the  Germans  in  a  determined 
attack  surprised  the  British  in  their  turn,  and  forced  them  back  from 
their  new  positions  for  a  distance  of  about  two  miles,  nearly  to  the 
Bapaume-Cambrai  road,    . 

Next  day,  by  fierce  fighting,  the  British  recaptured  Gouzeau- 
court.  The  battle  then  raged  over  a  fifteen-mile  front,  desperate 
efforts  being  made  by  the  Germans  to  regain  all  the  ground  taken 
by  the  British  west  and  south  of  Cambrai.  The  British  had  had  no 
chance  to  dig  themselves  in  and  consolidate  tlieir  positions  in  the 
ground  won,  and  on  December  1  and  2  the  struggle  was  in  the  open, 
a  fierce  hand-to-hand  conflict  unlike  anything  previously  seen  in  the 
war.  The  British  lost  guns,  for  the  first  time  in  more  than  thirty 
months.  They  also  lost  many  men,  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy,  but 
soon  succeeded  in  checking  the  counter-offensive. 

In  their  attempt  to  deliver  a  great  simultaneous  encircling  attack, 
to  surround  the  victorious  British  in  their  new  Cambrai  salient,  the 
Germans  sent  forward  great  forces  of  infantry,  supported  by  a  terri- 
fic bombardment.  The  British  met  the  shock  brilliantly,  finally  held 
their  own,  and  the  German  drive  was  declared  to  have  missed  its 
end,  at  enormous  sacrifice  of  life. 

On  the  night  of  December  5  the  British  strengthened  their  line 
by  abandoning  certain  untenable  positions  near  Cambrai,  falKng  back 
deliberately  and  successfully,  unknown  to  the  enemy,  upon  a  well- 
chosen  line  which  ruled  out  the  dangerous  salient  made  by  Bourlon 
"Wood.  Here  they  prepared  to  maintain  their  hold  upon  the  captured 
length  of  the  Hindenburg  line  against  any  pressure. 

The  German  casualties  in  the  battle  of  Cambrai  were  estimated 
art;  100,000  men,  greatly  exceeding  those  of ,  the  British  in  consequence 
of  the  nature  of  the  massed  attacks  made  by  infantry  in  the  counter- 
offensive. 

As  the  year  1917  closed  there  was  a  succession  of  German  attacks 
and  counter-attacks  by  the  British  in  the  Cambrai  sector,  the  British 
lines  holding  firmly  at  all  points  and  continuing  to  hold  during  the 
winter. 

55 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAB 

SOME  RESULTS  OP  THE  YEAR  1917 

The  British  War  Ofl&ce  issued  the  following  statement  of  captures 
and  losses  during  1917:  Captures — prisoners  on  all  fronts,  114,544; 
gunfi,  781.    Losses — prisoners,  28,379;  guns,  166. 

The  following  figures,  obtained  from  reliable  sources,  teU  the  real 
story  of  Grermany's  "ruthless"  submarine  campaign  against  British 
shipping.  Tonnage  of  British  ships  of  more  than  1,600  tons  in  August, 
1914^ — 16,841,519;  loss  by  enemy  action  in  3I/2  years,  less  new  con- 
struction, purchase,  and  captures,  2,750,000:  remaining  tonnage 
January  1,  1918—14,091,519. 

On  December  3,  1917,  it  was  announced  officially  in  London  that 
East  Africa  had  been  completely  cleared  of  the  enemy.  Every 
German  colony  was  then  occupied  by  Allied  forces. 

DISASTER  AT  HALIFAX 

As  the  result  of  a  collision  in  the  harbor  of  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia, 
between  the  French  munition  ship  "Mont  Blanc"  and  the  Belgian 
relief  ship  "Imo"  on  December  6,  thousands  of  tons  of  high  explosives 
blew  up,  kilUng  more  than  1,260  persons,  injuring  thousands,  and 
destroying  millions  of  dollars  in  property  in  the  city. 

JERUSALEM  CAPTURED  BY  BRITISH 

Advancing  steadily  upon  Jerusalem  in  the  Palestiae  campaign 
against  the  Turks,  the  British  forces  under  General  Allenby  finally, 
on  December  10,  captured  the  Holy  City  and  restored  it  to  Christen- 
douL  The  Turks  were  driven  to  the  north,  with  heavy  losses,  the 
port  of  Joppa  was  occupied,  and  Palestine  was  slowly  but  surely  freed 
from  Mussulman  dominion.  General  Allenby  formally  entered  and 
took  possession  of  Jerusalem  on  December  11  with  a  small  repre- 
sentative force  of  British  and  colonial  troops,  being  received  and 
welcomed  with  impressive  ceremoni(^  by  the  inhabitants. 

WAR  DECLARED  AGAINST  AUSTRIA 

The  United  States  Congress  on  December  7,  1917,  passed  a  resolu- 
tion declaring  a  state  of  war  to  exist  with  Austria-Hungary.  Austrian 
aliens,  however,  were  permitted  free  movement  in  the  United  States, 
only  Germans  being  classed  as  alien  enemies  and  subjected  to  reetric- 
tions  as  such. 

It  was  announced  by  the  Secretary  of  War  during  the  winter  that 
500,000  American  troops  would  b©  on  the  fighting  line  in  France  in 
the  spring  of  1918  and  that  a  total  of  1,500,000  men  would  be  available 
for  the  front  during  the  year. 

A  portion  of  the  French  front  was  taken  over  by  the  United 
States  troops  under  General  Pershing  early  in  1918  and  in  a  number 
of  trench  raids  and  patrol  engagements  in  the  last  weeks  of  winter 
they  gave  a  good  account  of  themselves,  receiving  their  baptism  of 
enemy  fire  and  gas  with  the  utmost  gallantry  and  winning  several 

56 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAB 

minor  engagements.  A  small  number  of  Americans  were  captured 
in  German  raids  up  to  March  10,  but  the  losses  inflicted  upon  the 
enemy  more  than  counterbalanced  those  sustained. 

RUSSIA  FORCED  INTO  "  PEACE" 

On  November  28,  a  few  days  after  German  emissaries  had  been 
sent  to  Petrograd  to  parley  with  the  peace  faction  in  disorganized 
Russia,  the  Bolshevik  de  facto  government  under  Nicolai  Lenine  and 
Leon  Trotzky  began  negotiations  for  an  armistice  with  Germany; 
and  on  December  3  an  armistice  was  arranged.  The  Cossacks  under 
General  Kaledines  and  General  Komiloff  began  a  revolt  against  the 
Bolsheviki,  who  organized  their  forces  as  Eed  Guards,  and  a  virtual 
reign  of  terror  was  inaugurated  in  Russia  while  negotiations  for  a 
separate  peace  with  Germany  proceeded  with  numerous  interruptions. 
The  administration  of  Lenine  and  Trotzky  became  an  absolutely 
despotic  regime,  all  forms  of  opposition  being  summarily  dealt  with 
while  crime  was  rampant  and  blood  flowed  freely  in  Petrograd  and 
Moscow.  The  Ukrainian  provinces  formed  a  separate  republic  and 
proceeded  to  make  peace  with  Germany  and  Austria. 

Formal  announcement  of  the  armistice  with  the  Petrograd  govern- 
ment was  made  at  Berlin  December  16,  with  the  statement  that  peace 
negotiations  would  begin  immediately  at  Brest-Litovsk  on  the  Eastern 
front.  Russia  thus  violated  her  pledge  to  the  Allies  not  to  make  a 
separate  peace. 

The  peace  delegates  of  Russia  and  Germany  began  their  sessions 
December  23.  On  Christmas  Day  Ensign  Krylenko,  the  Bolshevik 
commander-in-chief,  reported  that  the  Germans  were  transferring 
large  numbers  of  troops  to  the  Western  front  against  the  AUies, 
contrary  to  one  of  the  Russian  conditions  of  the  armistice.  Early  in 
the  new  year,  January  2,  1913,  the  negotiations  at  Brest-Litovsk  were 
suspended  for  several  days,  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  German  terms 
of  peace,  which  demanded  that  Russia  surrender  to  Germany  the 
territory  including  Poland,  Courland,  Esthonia  and  Lithuania. 
Foreign  Minister  Trotzky  declared  that  the  Russian  workers  would 
not  accept  the  German  terms. 

Germany,  however,  stood  pat  and  on  January  10  negotiations 
were  resumed,  continuing  at  intervals  for  several  weeks.  In  the  middle 
of  February  the  Bolshevik  government  announced  that  it  had  with- 
drawn Russia  from  the  war  with  the  Central  Empires  and  had 
ordered  the  demobilization  of  the  Russian  armies,  but  refused  to  sign  a 
formal  treaty  of  peace  with  Germany.  Premature  rejoicing  ensued 
in  Germany,  and  on  February  17  Berlin  announced  a  resumption  of 
wtar  with  Russia.  Two  days  later  the  German  armies  began  an 
advance  into  Russia  along  the  whole  front  from  Riga  south  to  Lutsk, 
occupying  the  latter  city  without  fighting. 

A  complete  surrender  to  Germany  followed,  Lenine  and  Trotzky 

57 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

stating  that  they  would  sign  the  peace  treaty  on  the  German  terms, 
which  included  all  the  territory  claimed  by  Germany  along  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  comprising  the  western  part  of 
Esthonia,  Courland  with  the  Moon  Islands  in  the  Gulf  of  Riga,  most 
of  the  provinces  of  Kovno  and  Grodno,  and  nearly  ail  of  Vilna,  with 
a  huge  indemnity.  Despite  the  surrender,  the  Germans  continued  their 
invasion  of  Russia,  with  an  eye  to  booty,  and  captured  without 
organized  resistance  of  any  kind  thousands  of  guns  and  vast  quantities 
of  rolling  stock,  motor  trucks,  automobiles,  and  muQitions  of  war. 
The  invasion  continued  well  into  the  month  of  March  in  the  general 
direction  of  Petrograd,  while  to  the  south  Austria,  at  first  seemingly 
reluctant  to  join  the  German  incursion  into  helpless  territory,  also 
invaded  the  Ukraine  on  the  pretense  of  ' '  restoring  order. ' ' 

SINKING  OF  THE  "tUSCANIA" 

The  first  serious  disaster  to  American  troops  on  the  voyage  to 
France  occurred  on  February  5,  when  the  steamship  "Tuscania,"  a 
British  transport  with  2,179  United  States  troops  on  board,  was 
torpedoed  and  sunk  by  a  German  submarine  off  the  north  coast  of 
Ireland.  The  close  proximity  of  British  convoy  and  patrol  boats 
enabled  most  of  those  on  board  to  be  rescued,  1912  sursdvors  being 
landed  within  a  few  hours  at  Buncrana  and  Larne  in  Ireland.  The 
lives  lost  included  267  American  soldiers  besides  a  number  of  the 
crew.  The  attacking  submarine  is  believed  to  have  been  destroyed  by 
the  British  patrol  before  the  "Tuscania"  sank. 

LONG-DISTANCE  PEACE   TALK 

Early  in  1918,  while  the  Russian  debacle  complicated  the  war 
situation  in  Europe  and  the  United  States  hummed  with  war  activities, 
a  series  of  speeches  by  statesmen  of  the  powers  at  war  resulted  in 
demonstrating  the  futility  of  ail  hopes  of  a  general  peace. 

In  an  address  to  Congress  on  January  8  President  Wilson,  follow- 
ing and  indorsing  a  notable  speech  by  the  English  premier,  Mr.  Lloyd- 
George,  laid  down  fourteen  definite  peace  and.  war  aims  of  the  United 
States,  closely  agreeing  with  the  expressed  aims  of  the  European 
Allies;  **and  for  these,"  said  Mr.  Wilson,  "we  will  fight  to  the 
death."  Subsequently,  in  February,  Mr,  Wilson  stated  four  general 
principles  on  which  the  nations  at  war  should  agree  in  seeking  a  satis- 
factory peace.  The  German  chancellor,  Von  Hertling,  addressing  the 
Reichstag,  declared  that  Germany  could  agree  to  Mr.  Wilson's  basic 
principles  of  peace,  but  British  and  French  statesmen  promptly 
pointed  out  that  the  German  practices  in  Russia,  and  eleswhere  as 
opportunity  offered,  failed  to  agree  with  Von  Hertling 's  profession 
of  the  Wilson  principles.  German  suggestions  of  an  informal  discus- 
sion of  peace  terms  were  therefore  declined  by  the  allied  powers,  and 
in  March,  1918,  all  eyes  were  turned  toward  the  Western  front  in 
anticipation  of  a  long-threatened  German  drive. 

58 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

THE  WOELD'S  GREATEST  BATTLE 

All  previous  battles  of  the  Great  War  paled  into  comparative 
insignificance  when  the  German  offensive  of  1918  opened  on  the  West- 
ern front,  March  21,  with  a  desperate  and  partially  successful  attempt 
of  a  million  men  to  break  through  the  British  line,  attacking  fiercely 
from  the  Ailette  to  the  Scarpe,  along  a  front  of  sixty  miles.  For 
weeks  the  battle  raged  over  the  territory  of  the  Somme,  and  when  a 
second  German  drive  occurred  farther  north,  from  Givenchy  to  Ypres, 
fully  3,000,000  men  were  engaged  on  both  sides,  and  all  records  of 
human  combat  were  broken. 

The  loss  of  life  was  appalling,  but  in  the  absence  of  official 
reports  while  the  fighting  was  in  progress,  could  only  be  guessed  at, 
though  the  world  Imew  that  the  rivers  of  France  and  Flanders  ran 
with  blood.  The  Germans  attacked  in  masses  and  successive  waves, 
and  paid  the  penalty  of  their  desperate  strategy.  For  though  the 
British,  and  later  the  French,  lines  were  bent  backward  for  miles, 
and  gaps  were  occasionally  torn  in  them  by  the  foe's  furious  attack, 
the  Allied  defensive  withstood  the  onslaught  and  after  a  month  of 
the  most  terrific  struggle  the  world  has  ever  seen,  both  British  and 
French  forces  presented  an  unbroken  front  to  the  disappointed  enemy. 

The  city  of  Amiens,  one  of  the  keys  to  Paris,  had  been  a  chief 
objective  of  the  German  drive,  but  all  efforts  to  capture  that  impor- 
tant railroad  center  failed.  True,  Noyon,  Peronne,  Bapaume,  Albert 
and  Montdidier,  on  the  south,  and  Festubert,  Neuve  Chappelle, 
Armentieres,  and  Paaschendaele,  to  the  north,  were  successively  cap- 
tured from  the  Allies,  in  spite  of  the  most  gallant  and  heroic  resist- 
ance. But  then  the  lines  held  firmly,  and  all  the  Germans  lad  to 
show  for  an  awful  sacrifice  of  life  and  morale  was  a  few  miles  of 
advance  into  territory  already  devastated  by  war. 

On  April  21,  when  the  Hun  offensive  had  lasted  a  full  month, 
not  only  were  the  armies  of  the  Allies  intact,  and  better  still,  their 
spirit  and  morale  unbroken,  but  the  utmost  confidence  prevailed 
among  them.  All  the  Allied  forces,  British,  French,  Canadian,  and 
American,  on  the  Western  front,  had  been  by  this  time  placed  under 
the  supreme  command  of  the  eminent  French  strategist,  General  Fer- 
dinand Foch,  an  important  step  in  the  co-ordination  of  effort  that 
met  with  universal  approval  among  the  Allied  nations. 

GENERAL  PERSHING  OFFERS  AID 

A  magnanimous  offer  by  General  Pershing,  approved  oy  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  to  brigade  the  United  States  troops  in  France  with  the 
British  and  French  forces,  was  gratefully  accepted  by  General  Foch. 
While  the  Americans  bore  only  a  minor  part  in  the  big  battles,  or 
rather  the  continuous  battle  of  March  and  April  on  the  Somme,  and 

?9 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

had  no  part  at  all  in  the  fighting  in  Flanders,  they  held  splendidly  to 
their  section  of  the  front-line  trenches  in  the  vicinity  of  Toul,  and 
gave  the  enemy  a  taste  of  their  quality  in  many  a  trench  raid.  Sev- 
eral attacks  by  German  storm  troops  were  also  beaten  off,  the  most 
important  of  these  occurring  late  in  April,  when  the  Americans 
defeated  a  force  of  some  1,200  picked  Hun  troops,  driving  them  back 
to  their  own  lines  with  a  loss  of  400,  while  the  total  losses  of  the 
Americans  was  about  200. 

GERMANY  PREPARES  TO   STRIKE 

The  great  German  drive  had  been  in  course  of  preparation  for 
months  before  it  began.  The  Russian  situation  had  been  settled,  and 
large  bodies  of  troops  were  thereby  released  for  service  on  the  West- 
ern front.  The  Kaiser  and  his  general  staff  then  determined  upon  a 
final  effort  to  win  a  decisive  victory  in  the  west.  Their  plan  was 
to  vanquish  the  British  and  French,  if  possible,  before  the  United 
States  could  transport  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  France  to  turn 
the  tide  of  numbers  in  favor  of  the  Allies,  and  enable  them  to  take 
the  offensive  with  good  prospects  of  success. 

German  troops  were  therefore  concentrated  noar  the  points 
chosen  for  attack,  and  this  was  done  with  the  utmost  secrecy,  the 
troop  trains  running  unlighted  at  night,  so  as  to  escape  the  observa- 
tion of  Allied  aviators.  Two  hundred  divisions  in  all  were  gathered 
for  the  German  drive,  and  fully  half  of  them  were  assembled  near 
the  British  front  on  the  Somme.  March  21  was  set  as  the  date  for 
the  attack  and  every  precaution  was  taken  to  render  it  a  surprise 
to  the  British.  The  German  troops  were  led  to  believe  that  they 
would  be  irresistible,  and  that  Paris,  their  long-looked-for  goal, 
would  soon  be  won. 

Meanwhile  the  Allies  had  not  been  idle.  Expecting  the  drive, 
but  not  knowing  where  it  would  strike  first,  preparations  had  been 
made  all  along  the  line,  not  merely  for  strenuous  defense  of  the  posi- 
tions held,  but  also  for  eventualities  in  case  of  enforced  retreat.  New 
positions  i)ack  of  the  lines  were  prepared,  reserves  were  distributed 
at  strategic  points,  and  full  co-operation  between  the  Allied  armies 
was  arranged  for.  The  British  took  over  the  section  of  the  French 
front  between  St.  Quentin  and  Chauny,  in  addition  to  their  former 
front,  and  by  so  doing  relieved  the  strain  on  the  far-flung  French 
line. 

The  Germans  counted  for  victory  upon  their  concentration  of 
vast  bodies  of  troops  and  the  element  of  surprise,  hoping  to  break 
through  between  the  British  and  French  armies  before  Allied  reserves 
could  be  brought  up  in  sufficient  numbers  to  halt  them. 

OPENING  DAYS  OP  THE  BATTLE 

On  the  day  set,  Thursday,  March  21,  the  great  battle  opened, 
after  a  six-hour  bombardment,  the  British  3rd  and  5th  armies  being 

60 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

attacked  simultaneously.  The  German  infantry  advanced  in  waves, 
of  which  there  seemed  no  end,  and  these  were  followed  by  batteries 
of  trench  mortars,  until  the  front  line  of  German  trenches  had  been 
reached.  Then,  wave  after  wave,  the  advance  was  continued,  in  the 
face  of  a  furious  British  fire,  until  the  defenders  were  compelled  to 
draw  back  through  sheer  force  and  weight  of  numbers.  The  Ger- 
man waves  moved  forward  at  the  calculated  rate  of  200  yards  every 
four  minutes,  wherever  it  was  found  possible  to  do  so.  Each  wave, 
on  reaching  its  objective  point,  dropped  to  the  ground  and  opened 
fire  with  rifles  and  machine  guns,  placing  a  barrage  2,000  yards 
ahead  of  them,  under  cover  of  which  the  succeeding  wave  advanced. 
Thus  each  wave  passed  over  the  one  ahead  of  it,  and  fresh  troops 
were  constantly  coming  to  the  front.  With  such  tactics,  against  a 
spirited  and  determined  foe,  the  losses  of  the  attackers  were  nat- 
urally enormous.  In  fact,  it  was  estimated  that  the  casualties  suf- 
fered by  the  Germans  during  the  first  few  days  of  such  fighting 
amounted  to  250,000  men.  But,  driven  on  by  ruthless  commanders, 
they  continued  to  advance  in  masses,  though  mowed  down  by  the 
British  at  every  successive  step. 

"All  the  German  storm  troops,  including  the  guards,  were  in 
brand-new  uniforms,"  said  the  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times. 
"They  advanced  in  dense  masses  and  never  faltered  until  shattered 
by  the  machine-gun  fixe.  The  supporting  waves  advanced  over  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  and  wounded.  The  German  commanders  were 
ruthless  in  the  sacrifice  of  life,  in  the  hope  of  overwhelming  the 
defense  by  the  sheer  weight  of  numbers.  *  *  *  Still  they  came 
on,  with  most  fanatical  courage  of  sacrifice.  "When  the  first  lines 
fell,  their  places  were  filled  by  others,  and  the  British  guns  and 
machine-guns  could  not  kill  them  fast  enough."  Two  batteries  of 
field  artillery  at  Epehy,  it  is  said,  "fired  steadily  with  open  sights 
(that  is,  pointblank)  at  four  hundred  yards  for  four  hours,  into  the 
German  masses  swarming  over  No  Man's  Land." 

On  the  first  day,  some  field  batteries  aided  the  Germans,  but 
these  were  soon  left  behind  in  the  advance  over  difficult  and  shell- 
torn  ground,  and  the  battle  became  one  of  rifle  and  machine-gun 
fire  and  hand-to-hand  combat.      -•    -         ^      ^-ai-    v-     ^      •  -^ 

On  the  north  the  British  3rd  army-  made  a  splendid  resistance 
and  held  its  ground  well,  but  the  5th  army  farther  south,  which  bore 
the  principal  brunt  of  the  attack,  under  General  Gough,  was  grad- 
ually forced  to  retreat,  though  in  good  order,  in  a  northwesterly 
direction,  towards  Amiens.  French  troops  were  ordered  from  the 
southwest  to  reinforce  the  British  in  the  vicinity  of  Noyon.  There 
the  French  stemmed  the  tide  of  Germans,  and  the  drive  was  soon 
turned  northward,  with  Amiens  as  its  evident  objective. 

61 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

ALLIED  LINES  BEGIN  TO  HOLD  FIRM 

The  battle  continued  along  these  lines,  with  the  British  still 
slowly  retiring,  with  their  faces  to  the  foe,  until  the  26th  of  March, 
the  French  stretching  their  lines  farther  and  farther  to  the  left  to 
keep  in  touch  with  the  British,  and  never  failing  to  maintain  connec- 
tion between  the  two  armies.  The  Germans'  fond  hope  of  cutting 
them  apart  was  doomed  to  disappointment,  French  and  British 
cavalry  aided  in  keeping  the  line  intact,  and  for  the  second  time 
since  the  early  days  of  tlie  war  the  horsemen  came  into  their  own, 
doing  valiant  service  in  covering  the  retreat  of  the  British  and  imped- 
ing the  enemy's  advance  at  many  points  where  their  aid  proved 
invaluable. 

On  March  27  and  28,  the  situation  began  to  improve.  British 
reinforcements  arrived  at  the  points  of  greatest  danger,  and  the 
defense  stiffened,  then  held  the  lines  firmly  before  Amiens,  and  at  a 
distance  from  that  threatened  city  sufficiently  great  to  prevent  its 
successful  bombardment  by  all  but  the  heaviest  artillery  of  the 
enemy.  The  devastated  and  shell-torn  condition  of  the  terrain  taken 
over  by  the  Germans  was  unfavorable  for  bringing  up  the  great 
guns  to  withm  striking  distance.  From  that  time  on,  the  Allies 
were  supremely  confident  of  their  ability  to  cope  with  any  forces. 

While  the  Allied  armies,  especially  the  British,  lost  heavily  in 
men  and  guns  during  the  Hun  advance,  many  of  the  German  divisions 
engaged  in  the  drive  were  literally  cut  to  pieces.  The  88th  division 
was  reported  by  prisoners  to  be  practically  annihilated.  The  same 
prisoners,  taken  in  counter-attacks,  expressed  the  utmost  surprise  at 
the  relatively  small  number  of  dead  whom  they  had  found  in  the 
British  and  French  trenches  as  they  advanced.  They  had  been 
informed  by  their  officers  that  the  offensive  would  be  over  in  eight 
days,  and  that  a  complete  victory  over  the  Allies  would  be  won  within 
three  or  four  weeks. 

GERMAN   DRIVE  IS   HALTED 

The  eighth  day  of  the  German  offensive,  far  from  finding  the 
Huns  victorious,  resulted  in  tremendous  attacks  by  the  Germans 
being  stopped  by  the  unbeatable  British,  wliile  the  French  won  a 
brilliant  victory  at  the  south  of  the  line.  Meanwhile  the  Germans 
had  begun  another  attack  in  the  Flanders  sector,  with  the  object  of 
wresting  from  the  British  the  control  of  Messines  Ridge,  which 
dominated  the  lowlands  of  Flanders  and  had  been  so  gallantly  won 
by  the  Canadians  in  the  previous  year.  They  gained  a  partial 
footing  on  the  ridge,  but  the  greater  part  of  it  was  grimly  held,  and 
all  efforts  of  the  enemy  to  advance  through  Ypres  towards  the  Chan- 
nel ports  were  frustrated. 

Another  sector  was  added  to  the  north  end  of  the  battle  line  on 
the  eighth  day,  March  28,  when  the  Germans  attacked  heavily  on 

62 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

both  sides  of  the  River  Scarpe  toward  Arras.  Here  some  of  the 
fiercest  fighting  oi  the  offensive  soon  developed,  but  the  ground 
gained  by  the  Germans  was  insignificant.  Daily,  however,  they 
claimed  to  have  captured  thousands  of  Allied  troops  and  hundreds 
of  guns;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  enormously  long  ambulance  trains 
were  reported  passing  through  Belgium  with  the  German  wounded, 
the  hospitals  in  northern  France  not  having  sufficient  accommodation 
for  the  sufferers.  On  every  battlefield  of  the  100-mile  front — for  the 
fighting  now  covered  that  enormous  stretch  of  territory,  in  two  sec- 
tions, north  of  La  Bassee  and  south  of  Arras — the  German  dead  lay 
literally  in  heaps. 

On  March  29,  the  ninth  day  of  the  great  battle  in  France,  the 
German  diive  was  practically  halted,  and  both  British  and  French 
reports  noted  a  decrease  of  the  fighting,  enemy  activity  being  mani- 
fested only  by  local  attacks  all  along  the  front,  which  was  being 
strengthened  each  day  by  the  arrival  of  Allied  reinforcements. 

PARIS  BOMBARDED  AT  LONG  RANGE 

Soon  after  the  great  offensive  opened,  the  city  of  Paris  was  sur- 
prised hy  being  bombarded  from  a  distance  of  approximately  70 
miles  by  a  new  German  long-range  gun,  which  was  discovered  by 
French  airmen  to  be  concealed  in  a  concrete  tunnel  in  a  wood  behind 
the  German  lines.  A  number  of  persons  were  killed  and  wounded 
by  the  nine-inch  shells  from  this  new  weapon,  54  women  being  killed 
when  a  shell  struck  a  church  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  on  Good 
Friday.  The  Allied  commanders  refused  to  regard  the  long-range 
gun  as  of  a«iiy  great  militaiy  importance  except  as  a  means  of  spread- 
ing terror  among  the  civilian  population, — ^and  the  population  of 
Paris  refused  to  be  terrorized  by  such  a  method,  exhibiting  the  same 
spirit  as  that  of  the  people  of  England  with  regard  to  the  futile 
aerial  raids.  *     '^  :>; 

French  estimates  of  the  German  losses  for  the  first  eleven  days 
of  the  offensive  placed  them  at  between  275,000  and  300,000  men. 
The  Germans  claimed  that  during  the  same  period  they  had  captured 
70,000  prisoners  and  1,000  field  guns. 

ANOTHER    ATTACK    ON    AMIENS 

Having  been  foiled  in  an  attempt  on  March  31  to  break  through 
the  valley  of  the  Oise,  Paris  ceased  to  be  the  German  objective,  and 
another  offensive  against  Amiens  was  undertaken  on  April  4.  By  this 
time  a  French  army  had  repaired  the  ragged  line  between  the  French 
on  the  south  and  the  remainder  of  the  British  army  of  General  Gough, 
whose  enforced  retirement  had  been  conducted  in  good  order.  Though 
outnumbered  two  to  one,  the  British  and  French  repulsed  the  attack 
on  Amiens  with  heavy  losses  to  the  Germans,  who  were  effecuually 
stopped  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  kilometers  (nine  miles)  from  that  city. 
This  ended  the  first  phase  of  the  great  battle. 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

BATTLE  RENEWED  IN   THE  NORTH 

The  second  phase  of  the  battle  which  was  expected  to  prove 
decisive  began  April  9  with  an  attack  on  the  British,  aided  by  Portu- 
guese troops,  on  a  front  of  fifteen  miles,  from  La  Bassee  to  Yprcs. 
The  center,  held  by  three  Portuguese  divisions,  was  broken  through, 
and  on  April  12  the  situation  seemed  critical.  Determined  counter- 
attacks by  the  British,  however,  and  reinforcements  by  the  French, 
stopped  the  Germans  in  the  next  few  days,  and  this  offensive,  like 
that  farther  south  in  the  valley  of  the  Somme,  gradually  died  out, 
leaving  the  Germans  with  gains  of  only  a  few  square  miles  of  devas- 
tated territory  to  show  for  their  continued  heavy  losses.  And  the 
reserve  forces  of  the  Allies  were  still  intact,  the  strategy  of  General 
Foch  in  this  respect  being  universally  applauded  as  correct  under 
the  circumstances. 

SHELLS   FIRED   BY    THE   MILLION 

In  the  beginning  of  the  offensive  which  thus  failed  to  accomplish 
ita  object,  the  most  desperate  means  were  employed  by  the  Germans 
to  break  down  resistance.  In  the  first  six  hours  of  bombardment  on 
March  21,  when  three  great  German  armies  were  massed  for  the 
attack,  under  Generals  Von  Bulow,  Von  Marwitz,  and  Von  Hutier, 
commanding  from  the  north  to  south  in  the  order  named,  it  is  estimated 
that  at  least  1,500,000  shells  were  fired  by  one  single  army — that 
opposed  to  General  Gough's  forces  on  the  south,  while  the  British 
3rd  army,  under  General  Byng,  to  the  north,  was  similarly  assailed. 
Most  of  the  shells  contained  gas  and  were  designed  to  destroy  the 
occupants  of  the  trenches  about  to  be  stormed.  Only  the  utmost 
individual  valor  and  persistency  of  the  thin  British  line,  as  it  retired 
still  fighting,  prevented  the  desperate  and  over-confident  foe  from 
turning  the  gradual  retreat  into  a  decisive  defeat.  As  it  was,  the 
Germans  paid  dearly  for  every  yard  of  ground  they  gained,  as  their 
successive  waves  of  troops  swept  over  the  zone  of  trenches  and  then 
engaged  the  groups  of  Allied  forces  in  the  open  beyond. 

All  the  German  units  were  under  orders  to  advance  as  far  and 
as  fast  as  possible,  being  provided  with  three  days'  rations  and  two 
days'  water.  After  the  first  few  days,  the  difficulty  of  bringing  up 
supplies,  with  the  expected  objectives  far  from  being  gained,  aided 
in  slowing  up  and  then  halting  their  advance.  Behind  the  German 
storm  troops  great  numbers  of  reserves  were  assembled,  to  fill  up  the 
gaps  torn  in  the  ranks  and  restore  the  divisions  to  tlieir  normal 
strength  as  fast  as  they  were  depleted  by  the  defense.  The  German 
tactics  took  no  account  of  human  life,  but  expended  it  in  the  most 
reckless  manner,  with  appalling  results  throughout  the  drive.  The 
Allies,  on  the  other  hand,  sought  at  all  times  to  conserve  their  forces 
by  intrenching  as  fast  as  possible  at  every  point  during  the  period 

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UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

of  their  retirement.     Their  artillery  was  constantly  in  action,  and 
aided  greatly  in  checking  the  German  advance. 

ALLIES  CONTROL  IN  THE  AIR 

German  aeroplanes  played  no  great  part  in  the  advance,  although 
they  bombed  the  British  and  French  rear  nightly,  and  the  air  service 
of  the  Allies  proved  superior  throughout  the  battle.  For  the  first 
time  in  a  great  battle  British  and  French  airmen  attacked  the  enemy 
infantry  from  low  altitudes  with  their  machine  guns  and  bombs,  and 
rendered  invaluable  assistance  in  damming  the  swelling  tide  of  the 
Hun  hordes.  Having  gained  the  mastery  of  the  air,  as  they  did 
prior  to  the  British  drive  on  the  Somme  in  1916,  they  retained  it 
until  the  foe  was  halted.  To  a  considerable  extent  they  replaced  the 
heavy  guns  of  the  Allies  by  their  constant  bombing  and  gun  fire. 

Between  March  21  and  March  31,  the  French  and  British  pilots 
shot  down  more  than  100  German  planes,  losing  about  one-third  of 
that  number  in  the  air  battles.  After  the  first  few  days  there  were 
practically  no  German  machines  in  the  air  over  the  fighting  front, 
as  was  the  case  on  the  Somme  in  1916,  but  at  the  end  of  March  the 
Hun  planes  began  to  reappear  in  mass  formation  patrols,  sometimes 
consisting  of  as  many  as  fifty  planes  in  a  group  of  patrols.  Then 
followed  a  period  of  intense  air  fighting,  of  which  a  single  day's 
record  of  the  French  may  be  cited  as  an  example.  On  April  12,  the 
Allied  a^^ation  report  shows  that  French  fighting  scouts  made  250 
flights,  fought  120  combats  in  the  sky,  shot  down  eight  Germans  and 
damaged  23  others,  burned  five  enemy  balloons,  damaged  five  more, 
and  bombarded  German  troops  with  45  tons  of  explosives. 

GERMANS  PAIL  IN   THEIR   OBJECT 

The  last  part  of  the  month  of  April  was  marked  by  a  succession 
of  minor  attacks  by  the  Germans  along  the  entire  front  of  the  halted 
offensive,  and  by  the  development  of  counter-attacks  by  the  Allies  at 
various  points  where  it  was  deemed  necessary  or  advisable  to 
strengthen  their  defensive  p(^tions,  but  up  to  May  1  the  Germans 
were  as  far  as  ever  from  their  main  objectives  in  the  west.  Judged 
from  the  standpoint  of  their  confident  expectations,  and  the  promises 
of  success  held  out  as  an  encouragement  to  their  troops,  the  long- 
heralded  and  long-prepared  spring  offensive  of  1918  was  a  failure. 
Their  much-vaunted  strength  of  numbers  and  of  organization  failed 
as  completely  to  gain  a  decisive  result  as  their  initial  drive  on  Paris 
in  1914.  Though  they  threw  into  the  fighting  in  March  and  April 
about  125  divisions,  they  failed  to  separate  the  French  and  British 
armies,  which  was  a  prime  object  of  their  strategy,  and  they  sustained 
losses  which,  while  not  irreparable,  must  have  greatly  affected  the 
morale  of  their  men.    "Eemember  Verdun!"  said  a  famous  French 

65 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

commander,  commenting  on  the  drive.  "The  Boche  is  making  this 
tremendous  effort  and  sustaining  these  losses  to  effect  a  complete 
rupture  of  our  front,  and  if  he  does  not  do  that  he  has  failed." 

BRITISH  LOSSES  MADE  GOOD 

On  April  25  the  British  minister  of  munitions  announced  in  the 
House  of  Commons  that  the  losses  of  guns  and  ammunition  sustained 
by  Field  Marshal  Haig's  forces  in  France  and  Flanders  during  the 
big  German  drive  had  been  more  than  replaced.  The  losses  were 
placed  by  Mr.  "Winston  Spencer  Churchill  at  nearly  1,000  guns, 
between  4,000  and  5,000  machine  guns,  and  a  quantity  of  ammuni- 
tion "requiring  from  one  to  three  weeks  to  manufacture."  More 
than  twice  the  number  of  guns  lost  or  destroyed  had  been  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  British,  air  and  ground  services,  said  the  minister. 

GERMANS  START  ANOTHER  ATTACK 

Another  determined  attack  in  the  Somme  region  was  begun  by 
the  Germans  on  April  24,  after  three  weeks'  further  preparation.  The 
enemy  evidently  had  not  abandoned  hope  of  capturing  Amiens,  and 
he  again  began  hammering  at  the  gateway  to  that  city.  The  first 
onslaught  was  repulsed  by  the  British,  but  on  the  following  day, 
April  25,  the  enemy  succeeded  in  gaining  about  a  mile  of  ground. 
The  combined  British  and  French  armies  were  covering  the  roads 
to  Amiens,  with  reserves  close  at  hand,  and  part  of  General  Pershing's 
American  forces  were  co-operating  with  the  French.  The  utmost 
confidence  prevailed  that  the  united  forces  under  General  Foch,  who 
was  called  by  Marshal  Joffre  "the  greatest  strategist  in  Europe," 
would  not  only  meet  and  defeat  this  renewed  drive  by  the  enemy, 
but  that  before  long  the  tide  of  battle  would  turn  strongly  in  favor 
of  the  Allies,  whose  reserve  armies  were  held  in  leash  by  their  supreme 
commander,  awaiting  the  strategic  hour  to  strike. 

BOTTLING  UP  U-BOAT  BASES 

One  of  the  most  thrilling  exploits  of  the  war  occurred  on  the 
night  of  April  22,  1918,  when  British  naval  forces  performed  an 
almost  incredible  feat,  by  entering  the  harbors  of  Ostend  and  Zee- 
brugge,  German  submarine  bases,  and  practically  bottling  them  up. 
French  destroyers  co-operated  with  the  British  in  the  daring  under- 
talking. 

At  midnight,  under  cover  of  a  remarkably  developed  smoke 
screen,  furnished  by  the  raiders  themselves,  five  old  British  cruisers 
were  run  aground  in  the  harbor  channels,  blown  up,  and  abandoned 
by  their  crews.  The  ships  were  loaded  with  concrete.  An  old  sub- 
marine, loaded  with  explosives,  was  also  run  under  a  bridge  connecting 
the  mole,  or  breakwater,  at  Zeebrugge  with  the  shore,  and  there  blown 
up,  so  as  to  prevent  interruption  of  the  raiders  while  they  were  doing 


their  work  alongside  the  mole. 


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UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

Facing  dangerous  and  unknown  conditions  of  navigation,  the 
harbor  was  rushed  by  British  monitors  and  destroyers,  under  heavy 
fire  from  the  shore  batteries.  A  storming  party  of  volunteers,  sailors 
and  marines,  was  landed  under  extreme  difficulties  from  the  cruiser 
Vindictive.  This  party  boarded  a  German  destroyer  lying  alongside 
the  mole,  defeated  her  crew,  and  sank  the  ship.  The  concrete-laden 
vessels  were  duly  sunk  with  a  view  to  blocking  both  harbors,  and 
every  gun  on  the  mole  at  Zeebrugge  was  destroyed.  The  effects  of 
the  raid  were  not  easily  ascertainable.  It  was  soon  learned  that  the 
submarine  base  at  Zeebrugge  at  least  had  been  put  out  of  business 
for  a  while.  The  gallantry  and  daring  of  the  deed  were  generally 
recognized  as  fully  in  keeping  with  the  best  traditions  of  the  British 
navy.  The  loss  of  life  was  quite  heavy,  but  the  British  lost  only  one 
destroyer  and  two  coastal  motor  boats,  many  of  the  raiders  returning 
safely  to  the  other  side  of  the  Channel.  Even  the  men  on  the  exploded 
submarine  succeeded  in  escaping.  The  officer  who  planned  the  raid, 
however,  was  among  the  killed. 

GERMAN  ATTACK  ON  YPEES  FAILS 

On  Monday,  April  29,  the  German  4th  army  under  General  von 
Arnim,  having  gained  possession  of  Mount  Kemmel,  a  dominating 
position,  began  a  general  assault  on  the  British  hill  positions  on  the 
Kemmel  front,  southwest  of  Ypres.  The  intention  was  to  capture 
Ypres  forthwith,  by  the  overwhelming  power  of  numbers,  and  the 
day's  fighting  was  a  crucial  test  of  the  holding  power  of  the  Allies 
in  the  Ypres  salient.  The  result  of  the  attack  was  a  stunning  defeat 
for  the  enemy,  who  was  repulsed  all  along  the  line  and  suffered 
frightful  losses. 

In  the  words  of  a  French  general,  "It  was  a  great  day  for  the 
Allies ! ' '  The  repulse  of  the  German  attack  was  a  real  defeat,  for  it 
upset  all  the  confident  calculations  of  the  enemy,  who  from  the  height 
of  Mount  Kemmel  had  seen,  first  Ypres,  and  then  channel  ports, 
within  his  grasp.  It  brought  disappointment  and  disillusion  to  his 
troops,  who  had  been  urged  on  to  their  disastrous  massed  attacks  by 
flamboyant  promises  of  success.  The  effect  was  seen  in  a  renewal  of 
German  peace  propaganda,  which  all  the  Allies  had  learned  by  this 
time  to  disregard  as  unworthy  of  the  slightest  serious  attention. 

"Extraordinary  nervousness  and  depression  prevail  in  Germany, 
owing  to  the  losses  in  the  western  offensive,"  said  Renter's  corre- 
spondent at  Amsterdam  on  April  29,  quoting  a  German  military 
writer,  Capt.  von  Salzmann,  who  said :  * '  Our  losses  have  been  enor- 
mous. The  offensive  in  the  west  has  arrived  at  a  deadlock.  The 
enemy  is  much  stronger  than  our  supreme -'command  assumed.  The 
region  before  Ypres  is  a  great  lake,  and  therefore  impassable.  The 
whole  country  between  our  Amiens  front  and  Paris  is  mined  and  will, 
be  blown  up  should  we  attempt  to  pass." 

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UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

The  preliminary  bombardment  southwest  of  Ypres  April  29 
started  in  the  early  morning  and  took  in  the  ten-mile  front  from 
Meteren,  west  of  Bailleul,  to  Voormezeele,  two  miles  south  of  Ypres. 
Infantry  attacks  in  this  area  followed  with  great  fury,  and  sanguinary 
fighting  continued  all  day.  The  Germans  at  the  outset  advanced  with 
fixed  bayonets,  but  they  came  under  such  an  intense  machine-gun 
fire  that  most  of  them  were  never  able  to  employ  the  steel.  The 
French  at  Locre  and  the  British  at  Voormezeele  repulsed  every  attack, 
thrusting  the  enemy  back  whenever  he  gained  a  footing  in  advanced 
positions,  and  firmly  holding  every  point  around  Ypres  at  the  end  of 
the  day. 

General  von  Arnim's  losses  were  particularly  staggering  at  Locre, 
where  he  used  battalion  after  battalion  in  a  vain  attempt  to  hold  the 
Tillage,  a  key  to  Mount  Rouge.  The  previous  German  capture  of 
Mount  Kemmel  did  the  enemy  little  good,  for  the  Allied  artillery 
kept  the  crest  of  the  hill  so  smothered  with  shell  fire  that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  Huns  to  occupy  it  in  force. 

The  attack,  which  was  the  fourth  great  battle  of  Ypres,  was  the 
biggest  effort  the  Germans  had  made  in  the  Flanders  offensive,  the 
enemy  employing  thirty  fresh  battalions  of  reserves,  in  addition  to 
the  large  number  of  divisions  in  position  at  the  beginning  of  the 
battle.  The  net  result  was  a  tremendous  setback  for  the  Germans, 
who  paid  an  awful  price.  Next  morning  the  battlefield  in  front  of 
the  defenders'  positions  was  covered  with  the  bodies  of  gray-uni- 
formed men. 

AMERICAN  TROOPS  IN  ACTION 

American  units  were  in  action  in  Picardy,  east  of  Amiens,  on 
April  28,  having  reinforced  the  British  and  French  in  that  sector,  to 
aid  in  keeping  the  foe  from  Amiens  and  Paris.  Their  baptism  of  fire 
in  the  direct  line  of  the  German  offensive  made  their  previous  experi- 
ences pale  into  the  insignificance  of  skirmishes.  During  the  various 
engagements  in  which  they  participated  in  the  last  days  of  April  and 
the  first  week  of  May  they  acquitted  themselves  with  great  credit. 

After  a  preliminary  bombardment  of  two  hours,  a  heavy  German 
attack  was  launched  against  the  Americans  in  the  afternoon  of  April 
30  in  the  vicinity  of  Villers-Bretonneux,  and  was  repulsed  with  heavy 
losses  to  the  enemy,  who  left  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field,  while 
the  American  losses  were  reported  as  "rather  severe."  There  was 
hand-to-hand  fighting  all  along  the  line,  and  the  violent  struggle  lasted 
for  a  considerable  time  before  the  enemy  was  finally  thrust  back, 
leaving  prisoners  in  the  American  hands.  Their  French  comrades 
were  full  of  praise  for  the  marked  bravery  displayed  throughout  by 
the  American  troops,  who  were  fighting  at  one  of  the  most  difficult 
points  on  the  whole  battle  front. 

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UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

U.  S.  TROOPS  RUSHED  TO  FRANCE 

As  a  result  of  the  great  German  offensive  movements  and  terri- 
torial gains  in  the  spring  of  1918,  there  was  a  tremendous  increase  in 
the  military  activities  of  the  United  States,  particularly  in  rushing 
troops  to  Europe.  After  the  selection  of  General  Foeh  as  general- 
issimo of  the  Allied  forces,  the  American  troops  in  the  v/ar  zone  were 
brigaded  with  the  French  and  British  all  the  way  from  the  North 
Sea  to  Switzerland,  and  their  numbers  steadily  increased. 

In  the  United  States  the  training  of  the  new  National  Army, 
national  guards,  and  officers  in  the  numerous  cantonments  and  train- 
ing camps  was  intensified  and  hurried.  As  fast  as  the  men  were 
brought  into  condition  they  were  shipped  to  France.  At  first  much 
of  the  space  on  the  transports  was  devoted  to  supplies  and  materials 
for  the  camps  and  depots  in  France,  but  as  the  situation  became  crit- 
ical owing  to  successful  enemy  offensives,  fewer  supplies  and  more 
men  were  sent.  Great  Britain  lent  her  ships  and  the  number  of 
transports  was  largely  increased,  so  that  each  month  of  1918  showed 
a  greater  movement  of  troops  across  the  Atlantic. 

The  troop  movement  record  for  the  spring  and  summer  months 
of  1918  was  a  wonderful  one,  in  view  of  the  submarine  menace.  In 
April,  117,212  American  troops  were  successfully  transported;  in 
May,  244,345 ;  in  June,  276,382,  and  in  July  300,000.  The  month  of 
August  found  more  than  1,500,000  Americans  in  France,  England 
and  Italy.  This  immense  number  of  men  were  carried  over  without 
the  loss  of  a  single  eastbound  American  transport. 

An  Army  of  5,000,000  Planned 

On  August  5,  1918,  plans  were  announced  for  increasing  the 
effective  strength  of  the  United  States  army  to  5,000,000  forthwith, 
by  an  extension  of  the  draft  age  limits  and  rapid  intensive  training. 
Official  statements  showed  that  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States 
already  amounted  to  a  total  of  3,074,572  men,  including  2,570,780  in 
the  army  and  503,792  in  the  navy.  The  national  army  at  this  date 
contained  1,400,000  men,  the  regular  army  525,741,  the  national  guard 
434,511  and  the  reserve  corps  210,528.  The  regular  navy  had  219,158 
men,  the  marine  corps  58,463,  the  coast  guard  6,605,  and  the  reserve 
219,566.  On  June  5  of  this  year  744,865  men  reaching  the  age  of 
21  since  June  5,  1917,  were  registered  for  selective  draft  purposes. 

Defeating  the  Submarine  Danger 

Meanwhile  giant  strides  were  taken  in  the  American  program  of 
shipbuilding  to  offset  the  ravages  of  submarine  warfare.  The  U.  S. 
Shipping  Board  was  reorganized  and  galvanized  into  a  high  state  of 
efficiency.  Under  the  leadership  of  Charles  M.  Schwab,  director-gen- 
eral of  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  and  Edward  M.  Hurley, 

69 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

chairman  of  the  board,  the  work  in  the  shipj'-ards  on  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  Coasts,  and  on  the  Great  Lakes,  was  speeded  up  until  ships 
were  being  built  at  the  rate  of  5,000,000  tons  a  year.  In  the  first 
ihree  weeks  of  July,  1918,  twenty-three  ships  of  122,721  deadweight 
tons  were  completed,  making  a  total  of  223  new  vessels  built  under 
the  direction  of  the  board  up  to  that  time,  the  aggregate  tonnage 
being  1,415,022  tons.  On  July  4  alone  eighty-two  vessels  were 
launched,  their  splash  being  "heard  around  the  world," 

"With  the  increased  tonnage  being  put  out  by  the  British,  French, 
and  Italian  shipyards,  and  the  output  of  neutral  countries  friendly 
to  the  Allies,  this  practically  put  an  end  to  the  submarine  peril.  In 
addition  the  United  States  requisitioned  seventy-seven  Dutch  ships 
with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  about  600,000,  while  arrangements  were 
made  with  Sweden  for  about  400^000  tons  of  shipping  and  contracts 
were  let  for  the  building  of  a  considerable  number  of  ships  in 
Japanese  shipyards. 

The  knowledge  that  there  were  over  a  million  American  troops 
facing  the  enemy  on  the  battle  fronts  in  Europe  came  as  a  decided 
shock  to  the  German  army  and  people,  who  were  forced  to  realize  the 
failure  of  their  submarine  campaign. 

Americans  Prove  Their  Mettle 
After  the  American  forces  in  France  had  their  first  serious 
encounter  with  the  Germans  on  April  20  at  Seicheprey,  a  village  near 
Renners  forest,  which  they  recovered  from  the  enemy  in  a  gallant 
counter-attack,  the  fighting  was  of  a  more  or  less  local  character 
throughout  the  rest  of  the  month  and  in  May,  with  varying  fortunes. 

On  May  27  the  Germans  began  another  great  offensive,  taking 
the  Chemin  des  Dames  from  the  French  and  crossing  the  Aisne.  On 
the  following  day  they  crossed  the  Vesle  river  at  Fismes.  But  on 
this  day  also  the  Americans  won  their  first  notable  victory,  by  cap- 
turing the  village  of  Cantigny  and  taking  200  prisoners.  The  United 
States  marines  added  to  their  laurels  in  this  fight  and  held  the  posi- 
tion firmly  against  many  subsequent  counter-attacks. 

Continuing  their  drive  toward  Paris,  the  Germans  occupied  Sois- 
sons  on  May  29,  Fere-en-Tardenois  May  30,  and  next  day  reached 
Chateau  Thierry  and  other  points  on  the  Marne,  where  they  were 
halted  by  the  French.  "■  /j 

In  the  early  days  of  June  several  towns  and  villages  fell  to  the 
Germans,  but  the  French  by  counter-attacks  recaptured  Longpont, 
Corey,  and  some  other  places.  On  Jime  6  American  marines  by  a 
spirited  attack  gained  two  miles  on  a  two  and  a  half  mile  front, 
taking  Hill  142  near  Torcy  and  entering  Torcy  itself.  The  following 
day,  with  French  aid,  they  completed  the  capture  of  Vilny,  Belleau, 
and    important   heights   nearby.      In    another   battle    northwest   of 

70 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

Chateau  Thierry  the  Americans  advanced  nearly  two  and  a  half  milea 
on  a  six-mile  front,  taking  about  300  prisoners. 

These  battles  confirmed  the  impression  that  the  American  troops 
as  fighters  were  equal  to  their  allies. 

Another  Enemy  Offensive 

On  June  9  the  Germans  began  the  fourth  phase  of  their  offensive, 
planned  by  their  high  command  to  enforce  peace.  They  attacked 
between  Montdidier  and  the  Oise,  advancing  about  four  miles  and 
taking  several  villages.  On  the  next  day  they  claimed  the  capture  of 
8,000  French.  The  same  day  the  American  marines  took  the  greater 
part  of  Belleau  Wood.  On  June  11  they  completed  the  capture  of 
Belleau  Wood,  taking  300  prisoners,  machine  guns  and  mortars.  The 
French  at  the  same  time  defeated  the  Germans  between  Bubescourt 
and  St.  Maur,  taking  1,000  prisoners.  Other  battles  followed  on  the 
12th  and  13th,  but  on  the  14th  the  latest  German  offensive  was  pro- 
nounced a  costly  failure. 

From  this  time  to  the  end  of  the  month  the  fighting  was  of  a 
less  serious  character,  though  the  Americans  in  the  Belleau  and  Vaux 
region  gave  the  Germans  no  rest,  attacking  them  continually  and 
taking  prisoners  at  will. 

July  4  Celebrated  Abroad 

America's  Independence  day,  1918,  was  officially  celebrated  in 
England,  France,  and  Italy,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States,  making 
it  a  truly  historic  occasion.  On  that  day  Americans  assisted  the 
Australians  in  taking  Hamel  with  many  prisoners.  On  the  8th  and 
9th  the  French  advanced  in  the  region  of  Longpont  and  northwest 
of  Compiftgne,  taking  Castel  and  other  strong  points  near  the  west 
bank  of  the  Avre  river.  July  14,  the  French  national  holiday,  was 
generally  observed  in  America  and  by  the  American  soldiers  in 
France.  Then,  on  July  15,  the  Germans  began  the  fifth  and  disas- 
trous last  phase  of  the  offensive  which  they  started  in  the  spring,  on 
March  21. 

Stinging  Defeat  for  Austria 

But  Italy  meanwhile  had  scored  a  great  success  against  the  Aus- 
trians.  French  and  British  regiments,  with  some  Americans,  were 
helping  to  hold  the  Italian  line  when, ,  on  June  15,  the  Austrians, 
driven  by  their  German  masters,  began  an  offensive  along  a  100-mile 
front,  crossing  the  Piave  river  in  several  places.  For  two  days  they 
continued  violent  attacks,  penetrating  to  within  20  miles  of  Venice, 
at  Capo  Silo.  Then  the  Italians,  British,  and  French  counter-attacked 
with  great  vigor  and  soon  turned  the  Austrian  offensive  into  a  great 
rout,  killing  thousands,  taking  other  thousands  prisoner,  and  captur- 
ing a  vast  amount  of  war  material,  including  many  of  the  Austrian 
heavy-caliber  guns.     The  entire  Austrian  plan  to  advance  into  the 

71 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAB 

rich  Italian  plains,  where  they  hoped  to  find  great  stores  of  food  for 
their  hungry  soldiers,  resulted  in  miserable  failure. 

The  defeat  increased  the  discontent  in  Austria-Hungary  and 
added  to  the  bad  feeling  entertained  towards  Germany.  Peace  feelers 
were  thrown  out  by  Austrian  statesmen,  but  the  continued  influence 
of  German  militarism  prevented  them  from  receiving  serious  atten- 
tion by  the  Allies. 

A  Waterloo  for  the  Crown  Prince 

When  the  German  divisions  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia 
began  their  last  desperate  offensive  on  July  15,  they  attacked  from 
Chateau  Thierry  on  the  west  to  Massiges,  along  a  65-mile  front,  cross- 
ing the  Marne  at  several  places. 

East  and  west  of  Reims  the  battle  raged,  with  the  Allies  holding 
strongly  everywhere  and  the  Germans  suffering  heavy  losses.  The 
enemy  aimed  at  Chalons  and  Epernay  and  hoped  by  turning  the 
French  fiauk  at  Reims  to  capture  the  cathedral  city  without  a  direct 
assault  upon  its  formidable  defenses.  General  Gouraud,  the  hero  of 
Gallipoli,  was  in  command  of  the  French  forces  on  the  right,  while 
General  Mangin  and  General  de  Goutte  held  the  left.  Most  of  the 
Americans  taking  part  in  the  battle  were  under  the  command  of  these 
noted  generals,  and  strong  Italian  and  British  forces  were  with  Gen- 
eral Gouraud 's  army.  The  French  constituted  about  70  per  cent  of 
the  Allies  engaged. 

General  Foch  Strikes 

In  a  single  day  the  German  offensive  was  effectually  blocked  at 
the  Maine.  Despite  the  enemy's  utmost  efforts  he  could  make  no 
further  advance. 

Then  Foch,  the  great  French  strategist  and  Allied  generalissimo, 
struck  the  blow  for  which  he  had  patiently  bided  his  time ! 

Apparently  having  advance  information  of  the  German  plans,  or 
perhaps  surmising  them,  General  Foch  had  been  preparing  a  surprise 
for  the  Crown  Prince.  In  the  forest  of  Villers-Cotterets  on  the  Ger- 
man right  flank,  he  had  quietly  massed  large  forces,  including  some 
of  the  best  French  regiments,  together  with  the  foreign  legion,  Moroc- 
can and  other  crack  troops,  and  many  Americans.  Everything  pos- 
sible had  been  done  to  keep  these  troop  movements  secret  from  the 
enemy. 

On  Thursday  morning,  July  18,  1918,  a  heavy  attack  was 
launched  in  force  at  the  Germans  under  General  von  Boehm  all  along 
the  line  from  Chateau  Thieriy  on  the  Marne  to  the  Aisne  river  north' 
west  of  Soissons. 

The  Germans  were  taken  completely  by  surprise,  and  town  after 
town  was  captured  from  them  with  comparatively  slight  resistance. 
When  the  first  shock  of  surprise  was  over,  their  resistance  stiffened, 

72 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

but  the  Allies  ccntmued  to  advance.  Mounted  cavalry  were  once 
more  used  to  assist  the  infantry  in  the  open,  while  tanks  in  large 
numbers  were  used  to  clear  out  enemy  machine-gun  nests. 

The  American  troops,  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  French,  did 
their  work  in  a  manner  to  excite  the  admiration  of  their  allies,  and 
acquitted  themselves  like  veterans.  Thousands  of  prisoners  were 
taken,  with  large  numbers  of  heavy  guns  and  great  stores  of  ammuni- 
tion, besides  thousands  of  machine  guns,  many  of  which  were  turned 
against  the  enemy.  The  strategy  of  General  Foch  received  world- 
wide applause.    His  master  stroke  met  with  immediate  success. 

By  the  20th  of  July  Soissons  was  threatened  by  the  Allies.  The 
Germans,  finding  themselves  caught  in  a  dangerous  salient  and 
attacked  fiercely  on  both  flanks,  hurriedly  retreated  to  the  north  bank 
of  the  Mame  and  were  rapidly  pressed  back  farther.  Their  condi- 
tion was  critical  and  the  German  Crown  Prince  was  obliged  to  call 
for  assistance  from  Crown  Prince  Bupprecht  of  Bavaria,  command- 
ing in  the  north.  Taking  advantage  of  this,  the  British  and  French 
in  the  north  made  frequent  attacks,  gaining  ground  and  taking  pris- 
oners at  numerous  points. 

For  ten  days  the  Allies  continued  their  victorious  progress  on 
both  sides  of  the  Soissons-Reims  salient,  the  Germans  continuing  to 
retire  under  strong  pressure.  They  were  forced  back  to  the  Ourcq 
river,  then  to  the  Vesle,  where  they  made  a  determined  stand.  Fere- 
en-Tardenois  and  Fismes  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victorious  French 
and  Americans,  the  latter  gaining  a  notable  victory  in  the  occupation 
of  Fismes  over  the  vaunted  Prussian  guards,  who  had  been  brought 
up  to  endeavor  to  stay  their  progress.  The  first  week  of  August  saw 
most  of  the  Reims  salient  wiped  out  by  the  German  retreat,  while 
rear-guard  actions  were  being  fought  along  the  Vesle  as  the  Germans 
sought  defensive  positions  farther  in  the  rear. 

The  prisoners  captured  by  the  Allies  in  their  drive  up  to  that 
time  numbered  more  than  35,000  and  more  than  700  hea\'y  guns  also 
fell  into  their  possession,  with  immense  quantities  of  ammunition  and 
stores.  The  Germans,  however,  succeeded  in  destroying  many  of  the 
ammunition  dumps  and  vast  supplies  which  had  been  stored  in  the 
salient  for  their  expected  drive  on  Paris. 

As  they  retired  the  Germans  burned  many  of  the  occupied 
French  villages,  pursuing  their  usual  policy.  As  many  as  forty  fires 
were  observed  on  the  horizon  at  one  time  as  the  Allies  advanced. 

Soissons  was  retaken  on  August  2,  and  the  valley  of  the  Crise 
was  crossed  by  the  Allies,  who  dominated  the  plains  in  the  German 
rear  with  their  big  guns. 

The  German  losses  in  the  great  battle  and  retreat  from  the  Mame 
were  variously  estimated  at  from  120,000  to  200,000.     General  von 

73 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

Boehm  avoided  a  first-class  disaster,  but  his  defeat  was  a  serious  one 
and  had  far-reaching  moral  consequences  among  the  enemy. 

It  was  estimated  that  from  the  beginning  of  their  offensive  in 
March,  the  German  armies  lost  more  than  1,000,000  men  in  killed, 
wounded  and  prisoners.  The  Austrians  in  their  ill-fated  offensive  of 
1918  lost  more  than  250,000  men. 

FocH  A  JVIarshal  op  France 

On  August  6  General  Ferdinand  Foch,  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Allied  forces,  was  elevated  by  the  French  council  of  ministers  to  the 
rank  of  a  Marshal  of  France.  In  presenting  his  name  Premier  Cle- 
menceau  said : 

' '  At  the  hour  when  the  enemy,  by  a  formidable  offensive,  counted 
on  snatching  the  decision  and  imposing  a  German  peace  upon  us, 
General  Foch  and  his  admirable  troops  vanquished  him.  Paris  is 
not  in  danger,  Soissons  and  Chateau  Thierry  have  been  reconquered, 
and  more  than  200  villages  have  been  delivered.  The  glorious  Allied 
armies  have  thrown  the  enemy  from  the  banks  of  the  Marne  to  the 
Aisne." 

Americans  at  Fismes 

The  American  troops  covered  themselves  with  glory  at  many 
points  in  the  Allied  drive,  notably  in  the  hand-to-hand  fighting  in 
the  streets  of  Fismes  on  August  4,  when  they  captured  that  German 
base.  The  fighting  was  said  to  have  been  the  bitterest  of  the  whole 
war,  the  Pi-ussian  guards  asking  no  quarter  and  being  bayoneted  or 
clubbed  to  death  as  they  stood  by  their  machine  guns. 

British  Victory  in  the  North 
On  the  Amiens  front,  in  Picardy,  the  British  Fourth  Army, 
under  General  Hawlinson,  and  the  French  First  Army,  under  Gen- 
eral Debentry,  stormed  the  German  positions  on  August  8  on  a  front 
of  over  20  miles,  capturing  14,000  prisoners  and  150  guns,  and  making 
an  advance  of  over  seven  miles. 

Allied  Gains  in  Picardy 

Before  the  Germans  had  time  to  recover  from  the  surprise  of 
Marshal  Foeh's  attack  on  the  Marne,  and  while  they  were  still  retreat- 
ing to  the  Vesle,  the  Allies  delivered  another  heavy  blow,  this  time  on 
the  Albert-Montdidier  front  in  Picardy.  Here  the  British  and  French 
suddenly  attacked  in  force  on  the  morning  of  August  8,  stormed  the 
enemy  positions  along  a  thirty-mile  front  and  on  the  first  day  of  the 
attack  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  seven  miles. 

For  several  days  the  enemy  retreated,  closely  pursued  by  allied 
cavalry  and  tanks,  which  for  the  first  time  fought  in  a  combination 
that  proved  irresistible.  The  tanks  used  were  of  a  new  small  variety, 
known  as  "whippets,"  which  rapidly  wiped  out  the  machine-gun 

7^' 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS  WAR 

nests  with  which  the  enemy  sought  to  stem  the  tide  of  the  victorious 
onrush.  Some  American  troops  fought  with  the  British  in  their 
advance  and  gained  high  praise  from  the  Allied  commanders. 

By  August  15  the  total  number  of  prisoners  captured  by  the  Brit- 
ish Fourth  Army,  under  General  Rawlinson,  was  21,844.  In  the  same 
period  of  one  week  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  French  First  Army 
amounted  to  8,500,  making  a  total  of  30,344  Germans  captured  in  the 
operations  of  the  Allied  armies  on  the  Montdidier- Albert  front,  besides 
700  hea%y  guns,  quantities  of  machine  guns,  and  other  important 
spoils  of  war. 

North  of  the  Somme,  between  Albert  and  Arras,  the  Germans 
continued  to  fall  back  to  the  old  Hindenburg  line,  where  there  were 
strong  defensive  positions,  with  the  British  and  French  keeping  in 
close  touch  with  their  retreat.  On  August  15  they  had  definitely 
given  up  the  towns  of  Beaumont-Hamel,  Serre,  Bucquoy,  and  Pui- 
sieux-au-Mont,  and  at  several  points  had  crossed  the  Ancre  river. 

Field  Marshal  Haig  announced  that  the  proportion  of  German 
losses  to  those  of  the  Allies  in  the  Picardy  offensive  were  greater  than 
at  any  other  period  of  the  war.  The  total  Allied  casualties  were  not 
as  large  as  the  number  of  Germans  taken  prisoner. 

Joy  in  Amiens  and  Pakis 

One  important  result  of  the  British  drive  was  that  Amiens,  the 
"dead  city  of  Picardy,"  began  to  come  to  life  again.  Its  population 
of  150,000,  including  40,000  refugees,  had  fled  before  the  German 
offensive  in  March,  1918,  but  the  former  inhabitants  began  to  return 
when  the  menace  of  the  invader  disappeared,  as  the  invader  himself 
was  chased  back  toward  the  Somme.  A  service  of  thanks  to  the  Allied 
arms  was  held  in  the  Great  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  in  Amiens, 
August  15.  Despite  the  damage  from  German  guns  and  bombs,  the 
cathedral  retained  the  title  of  the  most  beautiful  in  all  France. 

The  city  of  Paris,  at  the  same  time,  quietly  celebrated  the  great 
change  in  the  situation  wrought  in  one  short  month.  Just  four  weeks 
before,  on  July  18,  the  residents  of  Paris  had  been  awakened  by  the 
sounds  of  such  a  cannonade  as  they  never  had  heard  before.  It  was 
General  Mangin's  counter-preparation  against  the  great  German 
attack  which  the  enemy  believed  was  to  bring  him  to  the  gates  of 
Paris.  In  the  meantime  the  Germans,  who  were  at  the  gates  of 
Amiens,  Reims,  and  Compiegne,  had  been  soundly  beaten  and  outgen- 
eraled at  every  point,  and  the  initiative  had  been  forced  from  them  by 
the  military  genius  of  Marshal  Foch.  The  effect  upon  the  Germans 
was  apparent  from  the  fact  that  General  Hans  von  Boehm,  the  Ger- 
man "retreat  specialist"  had  been  appointed  to  the  supreme  com« 
mand  on  the  Somme  front.    The  German  withdrawal  norUi  of  Albert 

75 


UNITED  STATES  ENTERS   WAR 

was  looked  upon  as  the  first  application  of  liis  tactics.  It  was  General 
von  Boehm  and  his  former  command,  the  German  Eighth  Army,  that 
stood  the  brunt  of  the  Allied  pressure  in  the  Marne  salient  previous 
to  the  retreat  of  the  Huns  to  the  north  of  the  Vesle  river,  where  they 
jvere  still  standing  in  the  middle  of  August. 

BoLSHEviKi  Execute  Ex-Czar 
Former  Czar  Nicholas  of  Russia  was  executed  by  the  Bolsheviki 
in  July,  1918,  having  been  held  as  a  prisoner  since  his  dethronement. 


^  /voflTW  ^  seA  vV\Vi_>(s. 


ARRAS 


:   PAS. 

DOUJ.LE,NS 


AMIENS'    "^^ 


"'Raw 


SCALE  OF  MILES 

P  S  lO 

L*  ^    ^  ^ 

PAILROAOS  < 

ROAOS '■ 

CATTLC  UMC   VCSTCRDAV 
rAATHCST  CCRMArr  AOVANCC      **•« 
MIHOCNCURG  LIME    ••••»••••«••■••** 


BATTLE  LINE  ON  THE  WESTERN  FRONT  AUGUST  21,   1918 

Shaded  portions  of  map  show  territory  gained  by  American  and  Allied  troops 
during  July  and  August,  1918.  Most  of  the  territory  gained  by  the  Germans  in 
their  1918  offensive  was  recaptured  by  the  Allies  before  September  1,  1918. 


76 


CHAPTER  III. 

AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

Personal  Accounts  of  Battle — Gas  and  Shell  Shock — Marines  Under 
Fire  —  Americans  Can  Fight  and  Yell  —  Getting  to  the  Front 
Under  Difficulties  —  The  Big  Day  Dawns  —  The  Shells  Come 
Fast — A  Funeral  at  the  Front — Impression  of  a  French  Lieu- 
tenant— Keeping  the  Germans  on  the  Run. 

The  name  of  Chateau  Thierry  will  be  long  remembered  in  the 
United  States,  for  it  was  there  the  American  fighting  quality  was  for 
the  first  time  clearly  impressed  upon  the  Germans,  to  their  immense 
astonishment,  and  with  far-reaching  effect.  The  German  people  and 
the  German  army  had  been  told  that  the  United  States  had  no  army, 
navy,  or  fighting  quality;  that  the  talk  of  an  American  army  in 
Europe  was  "Yankee  bluff,"  and  nothing  more;  that  even  if  we 
could  raise  an  army  we  could  not  send  it  across  the  ocean,  first  because 
we  had  no  ships,  second  because  if  we  had  ships  the  submarines  of 
Germany  would  surely  sink  them.  Yet  here  at  Chateau  Thierry  they 
were  confronted  by  United  States  troops  and  soundly  beaten. 

That  effect  upon  the  Germans  was  in  itself  of  tremendous  signifi- 
cance ;  but  the  historic  effect  was  greater,  and  will  grow  in  importance 
with  the  passage  of  time,  for  it  is  a  fact,  unperceived  by  onlooking 
nations  at  the  moment,  that  it  was  the  turning  point  of  the  war; 
and  that  the  turning  was  accomplished  by  troops  of  a  nation  that 
hated  war  and  was  supposed  to  be  incapable  of  military  development ; 
and  that  these  troops  had  met  and  whipped  the  choicest  troops  of  a 
power  that  above  all  things  was  military,  that  had  assumed  pro- 
prietary rights  in  the  art  of  war,  and  believed  itself  invincible. 

Late  in  February,  1918,  General  Ludendorff  had  told  a  Berlin 
newspaper  correspondent  that  on  the  first  of  April  he  would  be  in 
Paris.  It  was  inconceivable  to  the  Germans  that  with  the  thorough 
preparation  of  a  mighty  army  for  an  offensive  that  by  sheer  weight 
of  numbers  should  drive  through  an  opposition  twenty  times  as  strong 
as  that  which  then  confronted  them,  they  could  not  witJi  ease  push  in 
between  the  French  and  British  forces,'  thrust  straight  through  to 
Paris  (as  a  spectacular  performance  rather  than  a  vital  military  oper- 
ation) ,  and  then  walk  over  to  the  channel  ports  of  France  and  bring 
both  France  and  England  to  a  plea  for  mercy. 

From  the  21st  of  March  until  along  in  May,  1918,  it  looked  a3 
though  they  might  succeed.  That  is,  to  anyone  unaware  of  the 
strategy  of  Marshal  Foch,  who  sold  terrain  by  the  foot  for  awful 
prices  in  German  lives,  and  held  an  unbroken  front  until  such  time 

77 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

as  American  forces  could  be  brought  into  action,  instead  of  wearing 
out  his  reserves  and  weakening  his  power  for  an  offensive. 

Unity  of  command  had  been  accomplished  by  that  time  at  the 
urgent  demand  of  the  United  States  Government.  Foch  had  saved 
France  and  the  world  at  the  first  battle  of  the  Marne.  Being  given 
supreme  authority  over  all  the  allied  forces,  as  soon  as  the  arrival  of 
American  troops  in  great  numbers  had  been  thoroughly  established, 
he  was  ready ;  and  the  offensive  passed  from  German  to  allied  hands. 

The  tremendous  German  drive,  which  Ludendorff  had  confidently 
promised  the  German  people  would  bring  a  smashing  and  decisive 
victory,  was  stopped.  Retrocession  began.  On  the  Marne  again,  in 
July,  1918,  in  the  sector  held  by  Americans  an  action  began  at 
Chateau  Thierry  which  forced  the  German  retreat  that  in  a  few  weeks 
was  to  shake  the  heart  of  Germany,  scare  out  Bulgaria,  Austria  and 
Turkey,  in  the  early  autumn  bring  Germany  to  a  plea  for  peace,  send 
LudendonT  himself  into  retirement,  dethrone  the  Kaiser,  do  away  with 
the  imperial  form  of  government,  set  up  a  republic,  and  create  condi- 
tions that  would  quash  for  all  time  the  power  of  Prussia  to  disturb 
a  decent  world. 

Floyd  Gibbons,  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  a  non- 
combatant  who  wanted  to  see  the  combat  he  was  there  to  report,  was 
in  that  memorable  action.  He  lost  his  left  eye  there,  and  was  other- 
wise severely  shattered,  but  he  got  his  story  through.  His  home  paper 
some  months  afterward  gave  Gibbons  well  earned  credit  for  that  con- 
tribution to  current  history.  It  said  he  "helped  to  put  the  Marines 
where  they  belong  in  the  war's  history,  for  he  was  with  them  in  their 
early  exploits  and  fell  in  one  of  their  battles.  Six  thousand  out  of 
8,000  engaged  was  their  toll.  They  fought  with  the  French  through 
Belleau  Wood,  heartening  the  brave,  tired,  discouraged  poilus,  and 
after  they  came  out  upon  the  other  side  the  name  of  the  battlefield 
was  changed  to  the  'Wood  of  the  American  Marines.'  Mr,  Gibbons 
says  that  when  Marshal  Foch  began  his  great  offensive,  which  in 
cosmic  importance  is  second  only  to  creation,  he  selected  the  units  in 
which  he  had  the  most  faith.  These  units  were  chosen  not  because 
tlicy  were  braver  nor  more  sacrificial,  but  because  they  knew.  They 
were  the  Foreign  Legion  of  France,  two  divisions  of  American  Regu- 
lars, and  the  United  States  Marines." 

From  that  day  there  was  no  change  in  the  favorable  fortunes 
of  war  on  the  western  front. 

AMERICANS  CAN  FIGHT  AND  YELL 

An  eyewitness  of  the  first  days  of  the  Chateau  Thierry  battle 
thus  describes  the  capture  of  the  Belleau  wood: 

"The  Americans  moved  stealthily  with  fixed  bayonet  until  they 
got  into  the  edge  of  the  woods  and  atop  of  the  German  machine  gun- 

78 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

ners.  Then  the  farm  boys  cheered,  and  the  lumberjacks  shouted,  and 
the  Indians  yelled.  They  were  where  they  could  mix  it  at  close  range 
with  the  Boche,  and  that  was  what  they  wanted. 

*  *  Their  yells  could  be  heard  a  mile  away.  They  were  up  against 
two  of  the  Kaiser's  redoubtable  divisions,  the  Two  Hundredth  Jae- 
gers and  the  Two  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  reserve  division.  They 
fought  with  vim  and  joy. 

"They  had  lost  comrades  at  the  hands  of  the  Germans  and  now 
were  to  avenge  them.  No  quarter  was  asked  or  expected.  The  Ger- 
mans had  orders  to  fight  to  the  death  and  the  Americans  needed  no 
such  order. 

**  Without  much  artillery  on  either  side  and  without  gas,  the 
Americans  fought  the  Germans  through  that  woods,  four  kilometers 
(nearly  three  miles)  long,  for  six  hours.  At  last  we  got  through  and 
took  up  a  position  across  the  northern  end  of  the  woods. 

'^  Perhaps  the  most  sensational  part  of  the  fight  was  when  about 
200  Germans  got  around  behind  our  men.  They  were  chased  into  a 
clearing,  where  the  Americans  went  at  them  from  all  sides  with  the 
bayonet,  and  I  am  told  that  three  prisoners  were  all  that  were  left  of 
the  Germans." 

"How  did  you  do  it?"  inquired  a  dazed  Prussian  officer,  taken 
prisoner  at  Chateau  Thierry  by  an  American  soldier.  "We  are  storm 
troops. ' ' 

"Storm  eh!"  said  the  American.  "I  come  from  Kansas,  where 
we  have  cyclones. ' ' 

That  was  and  is  the  idea.  This  spirit  enabled  American  soldiers 
to  go  wherever  they  wanted  to  go.  A  European  officer  on  observation 
duty  with  the  United  States  force  at  Chateau  Thierry  wanted  to 
know  how  our  soldiers  got  through  as  they  did. 

"They  seem  to  have  been  trained  somewhere,"  he  said,  "for 
they  fight  all  right.  But  that  doesn't  explain  to  me  the  way  they 
keep  going." 

The  American  officer  with  whom  he  was  talking  gave  this  explana- 
tion: 

"They  were  thoroughly  trained  in  our  camps  at  home  in  all  but 
one  thing.    They  were  not  trained  to  stop  going. ' ' 

It  was  a  splendid  exhibition,  the  first  of  many  of  its  kind. 

A   PERSONAL   ACCOUNT 

The  following  is  one  of  hundreds  of  thrilling  experience  stories 
that  could  be  told  by  officers  and  men  who  fought  at  that  front. 

Details  of  the  participation  of  the  United  States  Marines  in  the 
counter-attack  of  the  allies  against  German  forces  on  the  Marne, 
July  18,  are  given  in  a  letter  written  shortly  afterward  by  Major 
Robert  L.  Denig,  of  the  United  States  Marines,  to  his  wife,  in  Phila* 

79 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

delphia,  and  which  had  been  forwarded  to  Washington  for  the  his- 
torical files  of  the  Marine  Corps. 

It  is  the  best  and  truest  form  of  war  history,  and  important  in 
that  it  gives  details  of  action  during  those  July  days  when  American 
troops  stopped  the  German  drive. 

It  also  establishes  the  fact  that  the  Marines  who  helped  stop  the 
German  drive  on  Paris  at  Belleau  wood  early  in  June  were  honored  by 
being  brought  from  this  wood  to  Vierzy  and  Tigny,  near  Soissons,  for 
participation  with  a  crack  French  division  in  the  great  counter-attack 
which  started  the  disintegration  of  the  German  front  in  the  west. 

Names  that  became  familiar  through  the  fighting  in  Belleau  wood 
are  mentioned  in  Major  Denig's  letter  as  being  prominent  in  the 
allied  counter-attack — Lieut.  Col.  Thomas  Holcomb,  Lieut.  Col.  Ben- 
ton W.  Sibley,  Lieut.  Col.  John  A.  Hughes,  Capt.  Pere  Wilmer  and 
others  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  fighting.  The  letter  in  sub- 
stance follows: 

"We  took  our  positions  at  various  places  to  wait  for  camions 
that  were  to  take  us  somewhere  in  France,  when  or  for  what  purpose 
we  did  not  know.     Our  turn  to  enbus  came  near  midnight. 

GETTING  TO   THE  FRONT   UNDER  DIFFICULTIES 

"We  at  last  got  under  way  after  a  few  big  'sea  bags'  had  hit  near 
by.  We  went  at  a  good  clip  and  nearly  got  ditched  in  a  couple  of  new 
shell  holes.  Shells  were  falling  fast  by  now  and  as  the  tenth  truck 
went  under  the  bridge  a  big  one  landed  near  with  a  crash  and  wounded 
the  two  drivers,  killed  two  Marines  and  wounded  five  more. 

"We  did  not  know  it  at  the  time  and  did  not  notice  anything 
wrong  till  we  came  to  a  crossroad,  when  we  found  we  had  only  eleven 
cars  all  told.  We  found  the  rest  of  the  convoy  after  a  hunt,  but  even 
then  were  not  told  of  the  loss,  and  did  not  find  it  out  till  the  next  day. 

"After  twelve  hours'  ride  we  were  dumped  in  a  big  field,  and 
after  a  few  hours'  rest  started  our  march.  It  was  hot  as  hades  and 
we  had  had  nothing  to  eat  since  the  day  before.  We  at  last  entered 
a  forest ;  troops  seemed  to  converge  on  it  from  aJl  points.  We  marched 
some  six  miles  in  the  forest.  A  finer  one  I  have  never  seen — deer 
would  scamper  ahead  and  we  could  have  eaten  one  raw. 

"At  10  that  night,  without  food,  we  lay  down  in  a  pouring  rain 
to  sleep.  Troops  of  all  kinds  passed  us  in  the  night — a  shadowy 
stream,  more  than  a  half-million  men.  Some  French  officers  told  us 
that  they  had  never  seen  such  concentration  since  Verdun,  if  then. 

THE  BIG  DAY  DAWNS 

"The  next  day,  July  18,  we  marched  ahead  through  a  jam  of 
troops,  trucks,  etc.,  and  came  at  last  to  a  ration  dump,  where  we  fell 
to  and  ate  our  heads  off  for  the  first  time  in  nearly  two  days.    Whep 

80 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

we  left  there  the  men  had  bread  stuck  on  their  bayonets.  I  lugged  a 
ham.    All  were  loaded  down. 

"We  finally  stopped  at  the  far  end  of  the  forest,  nearing  a  dress- 
ing station.  This  station  had  been  a  big,  fine  stone  farmhouse,  but 
was  now  a  complete  ruin — wounded  and  dead  lay  all  about.  Joe 
Murray  came  by  with  his  head  all  done  up — his  helmet  had  saved 
him.    The  lines  had  gone  on  ahead,  so  we  were  quite  safe. 

''Late  in  the  afternoon  we  advanced  again.  Our  route  lay  over 
an  open  field  covered  with  dead. 

"We  lay  down  on  a  hillside  for  the  night  near  some  captured 
German  guns,  and  until  dark  I  watched  the  cavalry,  some  4,000,  come 
up  and  take  positions. 

"At  3 :30  the  next  morning  the  regiment  was  soon  under  way  to 
attack.  We  picked  our  way  under  cover  of  a  gas  infected  valley  to  a 
town  where  we  got  our  final  instructions  and  left  our  packs. 

GAS  AND  SHELL  SHOCK 

"We  formed  up  in  a  sunken  road  on  two  sides  of  a  valley  that 
was  perpendicular  to  the  enemy's  front.  We  now  began  to  get  a  few 
wounded;  one  man  with  ashen  face  came  charging  to  the  rear  with 
shell  shock.  He  shook  all  over,  foamed  at  the  mouth,  could  not  speak. 
I  put  him  under  a  tent  and  he  acted  as  if  he  had  a  fit. 

MARINES  ADVANCE  UNDER  FIRE 

"At  8:30  we  jumped  off  with  a  line  of  tanks  in  the  lead.  For 
two  'kilos'  the  four  lines  of  Marines  were  as  straight  as  a  die,  and 
their  advance  over  the  open  plain  in  the  bright  sunlight  was  a  picture 
I  shall  never  forget.  The  fire  got  hotter  and  hotter,  men  fell,  bullets 
sung,  shells  whizzed-banged  and  the  dust  of  battle  got  thick. 

"Lieut.  Overton  was  hit  by  a  big  piece  of  shell  and  fell.  After- 
wards I  heard  he  was  hit  in  the  heart.  He  was  buried  that  night  and 
the  pin  found,  which  he  had  asked  to  have  sent  to  his  wife. 

"A  man  near  me  was  cut  in  two.  Others  when  hit  would  stand,  it 
seemed,  an  hour,  then  fall  in  a  heap.  I  yelled  to  Wilmer  that  each 
gun  in  the  barrage  worked  from  right  to  left,  then  a  rabbit  ran  ahead 
and  I  watched  him,  wondering  if  he  would  get  hit.  Good  rabbit — it 
took  my  mind  off  the  carnage. 

"About  sixty  Germans  jumped  up  out  of  a  trench  and  tried  to 
surrender,  but  their  machine  guns  opened  up,  we  fired  back,  they 
ran  and  our  left  company  after  them.  That  made  a  gap  that  had 
to  be  filled,  so  Sibley  advanced  one  of  his  to  do  the  job,  then  a  shell 
lit  in  a  machine  gun  crew  of  ours  and  cleaned  it  out  completely. 

DIGGING  IN 

"At  10 :30  we  dug  in — the  attack  just  died  out.  I  found  a  hole  or 
old  trench  and  when  I  was  flat  on  my  back  I  got  some  protection. 

81 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

Holcomb  was  next  me ;  Wilmer  some  way  off.  We  then  tried  to  get 
reports.  Two  companies  we  never  could  get  in  touch  with.  Lloyd 
came  in  and  reported  he  was  holding  some  trenches  near  a  mill  with 
sii  men. 

"Gates,  with  his  trousers  blown  off,  said  he  had  sixteen  men  of 
various  companies;  another  officer  on  the  right  reported  he  had  and 
could  see  some  forty  men,  all  told.  That,  with  the  headquarters,  was 
all  we  could  find  out  about  the  battalion  of  nearly  800.  Of  the 
twenty  company  officers  who  went  in,  three  came  out,  and  one,  Gates, 
was  slightly  wounded. 

THE  SHELI,S  COME  FAST 

"From  then  on  to  about  8  p.  m.  life  was  a  chance  and  mighty 
uncomfortable.  It  was  hot  as  a  furnace,  no  water,  and  they  had  our 
range  to  a  'T.'  Three  men  lying  in  a  shallow  trench  near  me  were 
blown  to  bits. 

"You  could  hear  men  calling  for  help  in  the  wheat  fields.  Their 
cries  would  get  weaker  and  weaker  and  die  out.  The  German  planes 
were  thick  in  the  air;  they  were  in  groups  of  from  three  to  twenty. 
They  would  look  us  over  and  then  we  would  get  a  pounding. 

""We  had  a  machine  gun  officer  with  us,  and  at  6  o'clock  a  runner 
came  up  and  reported  that  Sumner  was  killed.  He  commanded  the 
machine  gun  company  with  us.  He  was  hit  early  in  the  fight,  by  a 
bullet,  I  hear.  At  the  start  he  remarked :  'This  looks  easy ;  they  do  not 
seem  to  have  much  art. ' 

"Well,  we  just  lay  there  all  through  the  hot  afternoon. 

* '  It  was  great — a  shell  would  land  near  by  and  you  v/ould  bounce 
in  your  hole. 

' '  As  twilight  came  we  sent  out  water  parties  for  the  relief  of  the 
wounded.  At  9  o'clock  we  got  a  message  congratulating  us,  and  say- 
ing the  Algerians  would  take  us  over  at  midnight.  We  then  began 
to  collect  our  wounded.  Some  had  been  evacuated  during  the  day, 
but  at  that,  we  soon  had  about  twenty  on  the  field  near  us. 

"A  man  who  had  been  blinded  wanted  me  to  hold  his  hand. 
Another,  wounded  in  the  back,  wanted  his  head  patted;  and  so  it 
went;  one  man  got  up  on  his  hands  and  knees;  I  asked  him  what  he 
wanted.  He  said :  '  Look  at  the  full  moon, '  then  fell  dead.  I  had  him 
buried,  and  all  the  rest  I  could  find. 

"The  Algerians  came  up  at  midnight  and  we  pushed  out.  They 
went  over  at  daybreak  and  got  all  shot  up.  We  made  the  relief  under 
German  flares  and  the  light  from  a  burning  town. 

"We  went  out  as  we  came,  through  the  gulley  and  town,  the 
latter  by  now  all  in  ruins.  The  place  was  full  of  gas.  We  pushed  on 
to  the  forest  and  fell  down  in  our  tracks  and  slept  all  day. 

82 


^  M 


^^ 


CUS^   .      £"2  2 
rj  3  *-■  in  B?  S-'S 


Wis  S,o  m  «H  !a)S  o* 
n     t,  „•«  0)  cm 

■^  03  b^  o  X"  c 

to  >»  U  c  ■-        -  m  oi 
th-O  cj  o  o'  'B'O  c  a* 
-■      "  '^  -  "^  o  "O 
"  "A 

aara  S2«"  '^^^ 

H  O  OJ  4)  R  iS  o 
""d  60'°  ■»  *  r-  t^ 


1-1   W    CO   O   '*'    W   '-'   I 


^  ft  O 


o.t,ST3c«>'a 
3  o  CD  3  ■'::?>' 


Above — Going  over  the  top.  Allied  troops  with  full  equipnient  are  seen  leaving 
their  trench  and  advancing  to  attack.  This  is  the  moment  that  tried  men's  souls,  and 
showed  themselves  and  their  comrades  the  stuff  that  was  in  them.  (Photo  from 
I.  F.  S.) 

Below — Scene  when  Cambrai  was  captured  by  the  British,  showing  large  num- 
bers of  British  troops  moving  forward  across  the  battlefield.  In  the  foreground  the 
men  are  seen  leaving  a  communication  trench.    (British  Official  Photo,  Jrom  I.  F.  S.) 


Above — Machine-gun    team    of    an    American    balloon    company    at    work    on    the 


Above — Machme-gun  team  ot  an  American  balloon  company  at  worK  on  me 
French  front,  trying  to  get  an  enemy  airplane.  These  anti-aircraft  guns  are  known  as 
"Archies." 

lirloir — Men  of  the  313th  U.  S.  Field  Artillery  cleaning  and  jiolishing  75-millimeteT 
shells,  to  be  sent  over  to  the  Hun  at  night.  Dirty  or  rusted  shells  are  dangerous  to  use, 
(17.  S.  Official  Photos.) 


Above — General  Pershing  decorating  Private  Nick  Connors,  Infantry,  42nd  Divi- 
sion, with  the  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  for  bravery  at  Chateau  Thierry. 

Below — Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretary  H.  F.  Butterfleld,  with  a  volunteer  detail  of  the 
104th  Infantry,  26th  Division,  loaded  with  cigarettes,  chewing  gum,  and  tobacco  for 
the  boys  of  the  104th,  who  were  chasing  the  retreating  foe  in  France.  (17.  S.  Official 
Photos.) 


Above — Company  M  and  Company  K,  336th  U.  S.  Infantry,  S2nd  Division,  advan- 
cing on  the  enemy's  positions  and  driving  out  the  Huns,  while  the  307th  Engineers  of 
the  82nd  Division  clear  the  way  by  blovving  up  wire  entanglements.  (Official  U.  S. 
I'hoto.) 

BHow — Photo  taken  from  the  body  of  the  German  soldier  at  the  left  (in  gray 
sweater)  near  Chateau  Thierry.  The  three  women  in  the  picture  were  at  the  time 
operating  a  German  machine-gun  under  armed  guard.    (Photo  from  U.  «£  U.) 


8° 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

A  FUNERAL  AT  THE  FRONT 

"That  night  the  Germans  shelled  us  and  got  three  killed  and 
seventeen  wounded.  We  move  a  bit  farther  back  to  the  cross  road  and 
after  burying  a  few  Germans,  some  of  whom  showed  signs  of  having 
been  wounded  before,  we  settled  down  to  a  short  stay, 

"It  looked  like  rain,  and  so  Wilmer  and  I  went  to  an  old  dressing 
station  to  salvage  some  cover.  "We  were  about  to  go  when  we  stopped 
to  look  at  a  new  grave.  A  rude  cross  made  of  two  slats  from  a  box 
had  written  on  it : 

"Lester  S.  Wass,  Captain  U.  S.  Marines.     July  18,  1918," 

"The  old  crowd  at  St.  Nazaire  and  Bordeaux — Wass  and  Sum- 
ner killed,  Baston  and  Capt.  LeRoy  T,  Hunt  wounded.  We  then 
moved  further  to  the  rear  and  camped  for  the  night,  Dunlap  came 
to  look  us  over,  A  carrier  pigeon  perched  on  a  tree  with  a  message. 
We  decided  to  shoot  him.  It  was  then  quite  dark,  so  the  shot  missed. 
I  then  heard  the  following  remarks  as  I  tried  to  sleep :  '  Hell !  he  only 
turned  around ! '    '  Send  up  a  flare ! '    '  Call  for  a  barrage ! '  etc, 

' '  The  next  day  we  were  back  in  a  town  for  some  rest  and  to  Lick 
our  wounds." 

IMPRESSION  OF  A  FRENCH  LIEUTENANT 

A  French  lieutenant  thus  describes  the  American  fighting  qual- 
ity: 

"The  finest  thing  in  the  combat  was  the  dash  of  the  Americans. 
It  was  splendid  to  see  those  grand  fellows,  with  their  tunics  thrown 
off  and  their  shirt  sleeves  rolled  up  above  their  elbows,  wading  the 
rivers  with  the  water  to  their  shoulders  and  throwing  themselves  on 
the  Eoche  like  bulldogs. 

"Any  one  who  has  seen  such  a  sight  knows  what  the  American 
army  is  good  for  henceforth  and  to  the  end  of  the  war.  At  the  sight 
of  these  men,  magnificent  in  their  youth,  physical  force,  good  temper 
and  dash,  the  Germans  fied  'with  eveiy  leg'  or  surrendered  without 
awaiting  the  order  to  throw  away  their  arms  and  take  off  their  sus- 
penders, which  is  the  first  thing  a  prisoner  is  told  to  do,  in  order  that 
he  may  be  compelled  to  keep  his  hands  employed  and  out  of  mis- 
chief, 

"The  Germans  hurried  toward  our  lines  gripping  their  trousers, 
haggard  and  mad  with  terror, 

"Would  that  every  mother  in  France  who  has  lost  a  son  in  the 
war  could  have  seen  that  epic  sight.  They  would  have  seen  them- 
selves revenged,  and  it  would  have  been  some  consolation  to  them  in 
their  sorrow. ' ' 

KEEPING  THE  GERMANS  ON  THE  RUN 

The  trench  deadlock  in  northern  France  and  Belgium  was  broken 
by  Ludendorff's  fatuous  drive  in  March,  1918,  After  the  allies  had 
stopped  it  and  inaugurated  their  counter-offensive  all  Europe  made  a 

83 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIERRY 

startling  discovery.  The  Germans  were  tenacious  enough  in  trench 
warfare ;  in  open  fighting,  known  as  war  of  maneouvre,  they  could  not 
stand  before  American  and  the  allied  troops.  Incessant  attacks,  rap- 
idly delivered  at  the  same  time  at  many  points  on  the  long  line  be- 
tween the  North  Sea  and  the  Swiss  border,  were  more  than  they  could 
withstand.  The  mechanically  trained  troops  of  the  central  empires 
were  futile  before  armies  of  men  who  did  their  own  thinking  and 
delighted  in  fighting  an  enemy  they  could  see  from  the  feet  up.  Ger- 
man armies  had  twice  been  almost  at  the  gates  of  Paris.  The  first 
time  they  were  driven  back  they  dug  themselves  in.  That  was  in 
1915.  The  second  time,  in  the  spring  of  1918,  they  were  allowed  no 
time  for  digging  in.  From  the  July  days  of  1918,  when  American 
soldiers  at  Chateau  Thierry  beat  the  best  troops  that  ever  were  trained 
in  Prussia,  they  were  kept  going.  How  industriously  may  be  inferred 
from  the  story  of  the  young  corporal  who  was  sitting  on  the  roadside 
trying  to  iie  the  soles  of  his  shoes  to  the  uppers,  in  a  hurry.  Some- 
body asked  him  what  was  the  matter, 

"0,  nothing  much,"  said  he.  "Only  I  came  over  here  to  kill 
Germans,  but  they  never  told  me  I  'd  have  to  run  'em  to  death. ' ' 

A  STRANGER  TO  HIS  OWN  CHILD 

There  never  was  a  war  so  prolific  of  personal  incident  in  every 
shade  of  experience  possible  to  human  life.  The  devastated  provinces 
of  France  offer  perhaps  more  of  these  happenings  than  any  other 
part  of  the  steel-swept,  shell-wrecked  fronts  of  all  Europe.  An  Asso- 
ciated Press  correspondent  tells  one  that  is  especially  touching. 

He  was  motoring  toward  Denaen,  one  of  the  cities  the  Germans 
had  occupiied  through  four  hard  years,  when  a  French  officer  going 
in  the  same  direction  asked  him  for  a  lift,  explaining  that  he  had 
lived  there  but  had  neither  seen  nor  heard  from  his  wife  during  all 
that  time. 

Entering  the  city  and  turning  into  his  street  the  officer  saw  the 
first  house  was  in  ruins.  He  gave  a  nervous  start.  A  few  doors 
farther  on  was  his  home.  The  officer  climbed  out  with  an  effort,  his 
eyes  fixed  on  the  place. 

There  was  no  sign  of  life.  The  windows  were  shuttered  and  on 
the  door  was  a  sign  showing  German  officers  had  been  living  there. 
The  officer  pulled  the  bell  with  shaking  hand.  No  one  answered. 
He  backed  away  like  a  man  in  a  trance  and  leaned  against  the  car, 
trembling. 

Suddenly  the  door  opened  and  an  aged  servant  appeared,  leading 
a  beautiful  baby  girl  with  a  wealth  of  golden  curls.  The  officer  took 
one  step  toward  the  child  and  halted.  He  was  a  stranger  to  his  own 
flesh  and  blood.  The  child  hid  behind  the  nurse,  peering  out  in  fright. 

The  half  blind  eyes  of  the  old  nurse  had  recognized  her  master 

81 


AMERICANS  AT  CHATEAU  THIEERY 

and  she  held  out  her  hands,  repeating,  "Monsieur!  Monsieur!"  in 
ecstasy.  He  crossed  the  road  and  grasped  her  hands,  but  the  baby 
drew  back. 

A  door  opened  and  a  comely  young  matron  came  to  see  what  was 
going  on.  She  caught  sight  of  her  husband,  then  stopped.  Her 
hands  flew  to  her  breast.  She  swayed  for  a  second.  With  a  sob  of 
joy  she  hurled  herself  into  his  arms. 

The  correspondent  moved  away.  And  thus  they  were  left,  the 
nurse  beaming  on  the  happy  couple  and  the  curly  headed  youngster 
looking  with  troubled  eyes  at  this  strong  man  who  had  appropriated 
her  mother  so  completely  without  a  word. 

WHAT  PERSHING   THOUGHT   OP  HIS   YANKS 

An  American  newspaper  man  who  returned  from  Europe  about 
the  time  hostilities  ceased  was  informed  that  General  Pershing  sug- 
gested to  Marshal  Foch  in  June  1918,  that  he  thought  it  bad  policy 
to  stick  around  waiting  for  the  boche  and  that  he  felt  the  time  had 
come  to  jump  in  and  attack — "But"  he  was  told,  "we  have  not  got 
the  troops." 

*  *  Whats  the  matter  with  the  Americans  1 ' '    Pershing  asked. 

* '  They  are  not  yet  trained ' '  was  Foch 's  reply. 

"Try  them  and  see"  said  General  Pershing.  "They  will  go,  any- 
where you  send  them,  and  I  will  bet  my  life  on  it. ' ' 

Pershing  took  the  initiative  in  urging  the  offensive,  supplied  the 
troops  that  gave  Foch  his  mobile  reserve  enabling  him  to  strike  his 
blow,  and  those  American  troops  ' '  delivered  the  goods. ' ' 

HEALTH    OF   ARMY   SURPRISING 

Official  reports  to  the  war  department  show  that  the  general  health 
of  the  American  army  during  the  war  had  been  surprisingly  good. 
The  death  rate  for  all  forces  at  home  and  abroad  up  to  August  30th, 
1918,  was  5.9  per  1,000  men  per  year,  or  little  more  than  the  civilian 
death  rate  for  men  of  the  same  age  groups. 

There  were  316,000  cases  of  influenza  among  the  troops  in  the 
United  States  during  the  late  summer  and  fall  of  1918  and  of  20,500 
deaths,  between  September  14th  and  November  8th,  19,800  were 
ascribed  to  the  epidemic. 

ARMY  REACHED  TOTAL  OP  3,664,000 

An  ofScial  report  shows  that  on  the  day  the  Armistice  was  signed 
more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  male  population  of  the  United 
States  between  the  ages  of  19  and  31  years,  were  in  military  service, 
the  army  having  reached  a  total  of  3,664,000,  with  more  than  2,000,000 
of  this  number  in  Europe.  As  compared  with  an  army  strength  of 
189,674  in  March  1917,  one  week  before  war  was  declared  by  the 
United  States. 

85 


CHAPTER  IV. 
AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

First  Major  Action  ty  All  American  Army  —  Stories  to  Folks  ai 
Home — Huns  Carry  Off  Captive  Women — Hell  Has  Cut  Loose — 
Major  Tells  His  Story — Enormous  Numbers  of  Guns  and  Tanks — 
Over  the  Top  at  5:30  A.  M. — Texas  and  Oklahoma  Troops  Fight 
in  True  Ranger  Style — Our  Colored  Boys  Win  Credit. 

The  first  major  action  by  an  all  American  army  was  that  which 
began  before  the  St.  Mihiel  salient  September  11,  1918.  The  Germans 
had  occupied  that  salient  almost  four  years,  and  had  built  it  into  what 
they  believed  to  be  an  impregnable  position.  The  Americans,  under 
direct  command  of  General  Pershing,  reduced  it  in  a  three  days' 
advance. 

The  salient  was  a  huge  bulge,  almost  twenty  miles  in  depth, 
turning  southwest  from  Combres  at  the  north  base  and  Hattonville 
at  the  south  and  looping  down  around  the  towns  of  St,  Mihiel  and 
Ailly.    It  was  powerfully  held  by  masses  of  enemy  troops. 

General  Pershing's  army  attacked  from  the  west,  south  and  east 
all  the  way  from  Bonzee  to  Norroy,  and  by  September  13th  had 
pushed  it  back  to  a  straight  line  drawn  from  Combres  to  Hattonville. 
The  French  attacked  at  Ailly,  the  apex  of  the  salient  as  it  was  on 
September  11. 

The  entire  operation  was  conducted  with  rapidity  and  with 
irresistible  energy.  The  dash  and  enthusiasm  of  the  American  sol- 
diers astonished  and  delighted  the  French  and  British  as  completely 
as  it  staggered  the  Germans. 

By  September  13th  the  Americans  had  taken  forty-seven  towns 
and  villages,  reduced  the  German  front  from  forty  miles  to  twenty, 
captured  the  railway  that  connects  Verdun  with  Commercy,  opened 
the  cities  of  Nancy  and  Toul  to  the  allies,  and  with  the  French  and 
British  on  the  east,  created  a  new  battle  front  on  a  line  running  from 
Hattonville  on  the  west  to  Pagny  on  the  east — Pagny  being  a  town 
on  the  Moselle  river,  at  the  German  border. 

The  importance  of  this  victory  could  hardly  be  overestimated. 
It  opened  the  way  to  and  was  followed  up  by  the  demolition  of  the 
whole  German  line  from  the  Swiss  border  to  the  North  Sea,  and 
hastened  the  great  German  retreat.  In  the  action  itself,  September 
11  to  13,  about  15,000  Germans  were  taken  prisoner  by  the  Ameri- 
cans. 

STORIES  TO  THE  FOLKS   BACK  HOME 

Sidelight  stories  of  what  happened  in  the  St.  Mihiel  fight,  mostly 
in  letters  written  home  by  men  who  were  in  it,  go  far  toward  showing 

^6 


AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

how  completely  the  Germans  were  taken    off    their    guard.      Corp. 
Ray  Fick  of  the  103d  Infantry  wrote  home  in  this  wise : 

' '  We  got  into  the  woods  and  then  kept  on  going  until  we  reached 
a  big  city  where  there  was  a  brewery,  but  they  had  set  fire  to  the 
whole  city  before  they  left.  We  got  some  beer  and  wine  just  the 
same.  It  was  a  little  stale,  but  it  was  fine.  The  Huns'  warehouses 
were  all  fixed  for  the  winter  and  the  boys  got  cigars  and  cigarettes, 
but  I  was  a  little  too  late  to  get  in  on  it. 

*'The  whole  thing  was  very  interesting  all  the  way  through.  The 
Huns  sure  did  make  themselves  scarce  in  a  hurry,  but  they  kept  many 
prisoners,  a  troop  train  and  an  ammunition  train. 

''Cigarettes  are  scarce  and  we  look  for  smokes  all  the  time.  The 
Red  Cross  and  the  Salvation  Army  are  the  ones  who  look  to  our  com- 
forts. If  any  one  wants  to  give,  tell  them  the  Red  Cross  and  the 
Salvation  Army  are  the  ones  to  get  it. ' ' 

HUNS   CARRY   OFF    CAPTIVE   WOMEN 

But  Corporal  Fick  uncovers  another  Hun  procedure  that  has  no 
fun  in  it.  While  the  Huns  lost  no  time  in  getting  away  from  there, 
they  took  care  to  carry  off  their  captured  women  slaves. 

"The  women  they  have  held  captives  for  the  last  four  years,"  he 
writes,  "were  driven  ahead  of  them,  but  they  were  brought  back  by 
the  Americans.  Truckload  after  truckload  passed  us  on  the  way,  and 
they  sure  were  happy  to  be  free  again." 

"hell  has  cut  loose" 

Another  soldier  wrote  to  his  father  telling  about  the  first  day  of 
attack  as  he  saw  it : 

"Hell  has  let  loose.  The  woods  are  a  mass  of  whistling  shell 
and  shrapnel.  Every  time  the  big  twelves  go  off  the  flash  lights  up 
the  entire  camp  like  a  flashlight  picture,  then  the  ground  heaves  and 
tumbles  like  old  Lake  Michigan  does  on  a  stormy  day. 

"The  infantry  have  cleared  the  top  and  have  gone  on  far  in 
advance,  almost  outside  of  the  range  of  fire.  Our  big  objective  has 
been  wiped  off  the  map  and  our  men  are  preparing  to  keep  right  on 
going  after  them  and  backing  up  the  doughboys  who  are  doing  such 
great  work. 

"I  went  up  to  the  front  last  night  on  an  ammunition  caisson 
(which  is  the  only  way  to  get  up  there)  and  saw  the  thing  commence. 
It  started  with  one  solitary  gun  of  ours  (a  big  one,  too).  Then  the 
others  joined  in  on  the  chorus,  and  it  has  been  steady  ever  since. 

"When  the  doughboys  were  told  that  they  were  going  over  the 
top  at  the  zero  hour,  you  never  heard  shouting  to  equal  it ;  the  Board 
of  Trade  on  a  Monday  morning  was  just  a  whisper  in  comparison. 

"Dad,  that  is  the  general  feeling  of  our  boys  over  here — always 

87 


AMEEICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST,  MIEIEL 

waiting  to  move  up.  I  told  a  lad  in  one  of  the  outfits  that  the 
artillery  v/as  right  back  of  them  and  would  blow  them  through  to  the 
objective  if  they  did  not  make  it,  and  he  laughed  and  said,  'Hoboken 
hy  Christmas. '  They  were  all  in  the  best  of  mood  and  roaring  to  go. ' ' 
These  letters  are  good  specimens  of  the  thousands  that  have  come 
ever  the  sea.  They  not  only  give  good  sidelights  on  an  event  that 
will  loom  large  in  history,  but  they  show  the  indomitable  cheer  and 
liigh  spirit  of  our  soldiers. 

MAJOR  TELLS  HIS  STORY 

Concurrently  with  the  action  that  originated  at  St.  Mihiel  on 
September  11,  1918,  another  great  battle  developed  northwest  of 
Verdun.  It  lasted  about  three  weeks,  and  is  graphically  described 
by  Lt.  Col.  B.  M.  Chipperfield  (then  a  major)  of  the  23d  Division. 
Lt.  Col.  Chipperfield  was  a  participant  in  as  well  as  an  eyewitness  of 
the  v^hole  engagement.  Under  date  of  September  29,  1918,  (he 
described  it  substantially  as  follows,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  home : 

''For  several  days  preparations  had  been  in  progress  for  the 
action  that  began  on  Thursday,  September  26th.  The  American  troops 
were  moved  up  by  night,  jamming  the  roads  with  their  advancing 
columns  and  transport  trains. 

"Thousands  and  thousands  of  them,"  wrote  Major  Chipperfield, 
* '  trudged  along  without  a  light  and  in  almost  quiet. 

ENORMOUS  NUMBERS  OP  GUNS 

"Tanks  and  cannon  and  guns  of  all  sorts,  every  kind  of  vehicle, 
ambulance  wagon,  and  transport  passed  in  this  continuous  procession. 
It  seemed  that  there  was  no  end  to  it,  and  one  could  not  help  but 
admire  the  wonderful  resources  that  had  been  gathered  together  by 
the  United  States  to  help  perform  its  part  in  this  great  struggle  for 
freedom. 

"I  think  the  greatest  collection  of  guns  that  has  ever  been  gath- 
ered together  for  participation  in  any  conflict  of  the  world  was  taken 
to  the  front  where  the  attack  was  about  to  be  made.  It  is  estimated 
there  were  6,000  of  these  guns,  and  the  soldiers  that  were  gathered 
together  numbered  hundreds  of  thousands  . 

"These  guns  and  soldiers  were  conducted  to  their  places  so 
secretly  and  quietly  that,  although  they  marched  many  miles,  the 
enemy  did  not  even  know  a  small  part  of  the  strength  and  could  only 
specidate  what  it  all  meant. 

UNDER  ENFILADING  FIRE 

"In  the  arrangement  of  the  plan  of  battle  our  division  was  on  th© 
extreme  right.  Across  the  river  was  a  German  stronghold.  Here 
there  were  located  a  large  quantity  of  artillery  and  many  machine 

88 


AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

guns.  Our  officers  understood  that  it  was  going  to  be  a  difficult 
advance,  for  a  bridge  had  to  be  built  across  a  creek,  but  everything  in 
our  division  went  like  clockwork.  It  had  all  been  planned  in  advance, 
and  the  plan  was  carried  out  exactly  as  made. 

"It  was  arranged  that  at  11:30  o'clock  on  Thursday  night  the 
battle  was  to  begin.  Before  that  time  I  had  reached  my  destination 
at  the  headquarters  of  the  otlier  division,  and  together  with  the  rest 
of  the  headquarters  staff  we  were  in  a  favorable  place  to  watch  the 
commencement. 

"At  11 :25  it  was  silent  as  the  grave,  and  the  night  was  beautiful. 
Precisely  at  11:30  from  every  conceivable  direction  the  great  bom- 
bardment commenced.  In  an  instant  the  whole  night  was  filled  with 
a  roar  and  thunder  and  reverberation  of  the  cannon  from  every  quar- 
ter. The  shriek  and  whistle  and  whine  and  clamor  of  the  sliells  made 
a  fearful  chorus  as  they  were  hurled  in  the  direction  of  the  field 
occupied  hy  our  adversaries. 

"From  every  quarter  came  the  flash  of  the  explosions,  until  the 
night  was  lighted  as  bright  as  day.  Signal  rockets  rose  from  every 
portion  and  part  of  our  lines  and  also  from  the  enemy  lines.  It  looked 
as  though  the  heavens  were  ablaze  and  raining  fire.  It  was  a  scene 
which  has  probably  never  been  seen  before  upon  any  battlefield  and 
may  never  be  witnessed  again. 

'  *  Apparentlj^  this  fierce  bombardment  took  the  enemy  entirely  by 
surprise  because  our  fire  was  so  deadly  and  the  extent  so  great  that 
they  could  only  make  uncertain  reply.    They  seemed  to  be  stupefied. 

"For  six  hours  this  terrific  bombardment  continued.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  each  of  the  guns  fired  an  average  of  three  shots  a  minute 
and  that  1,000,000  projectiles  and  charges  of  ammunition  were  used. 

OVER  THE  TOP  AT  5  :30  A.   M. 

"As  5:30  approached  the  bombardment  increased.  The  machine 
guns  joined  in  the  chorus  and  a  curtain  of  steel  and  fire  was  placed  in 
front  of  our  troops  and  rained  upon  the  guns  and  cannon  of  the 
enemy. 

"After  a  brief  period  of  this  fire  our  men  started  over  the  top, 
and  as  they  did  so  they  swept  the  enemy  before  them  in  their  irre- 
sistible rush.  They  advanced  kilometer  after  kilometer.  They  could 
not  be  resisted  or  stayed  at  any  stage  of  the  attack. 

"Soon  the  prisoners  commenced  to  come  in,  and  they  told  of  the 
terrific  effect  that  the  great  bombardment  had  upon  the  Germans. 
They  said  the  bombardment  was  so  terrible  that  it  disrupted  their 
plans  so  that  they  could  not  be  carried  out  and  that  they  could  not 
resist  the  attack. 

"Several  times  during  the  night  I  went  out  to  witness  the  scene 
and  as  long  as  life  lasts  it  will  be  remembered. 

89 


AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

ON  DEAD  man's  HHIj 

"Once  when  two  of  our  regiments  came  over  a  hill  and  saw  the 
valley  that  lay  before  them  being  terrifically  shelled  by  the  cannon 
and  assailed  by  hail  from  the  machine  guns,  the  whole  column  wa» 
Been  to  pause  and  a  look  of  worry  came  over  the  faces  of  these  men 
that  for  just  an  instant  was  pitiful.  They  knew  that  ahead  of  them  lay 
death  for  many  and  it  is  not  strange  that  for  several  seconds  the 
lines  were  held  up,  but  then  a  look  of  fierce  determination  and  of 
courage  took  the  place  of  the  former  expression  and  with  a  great 
resolve  and  courage,  dash,  and  daring,  the  lines  shot  forward  at  a 
redoubled  step  and  the  determination  to  do  or  die  was  manifested  in 
every  action. 

"These  machine  guns  were  speedily  put  out  of  business,  and 
then  the  attack  would  go  on.  That  portion  of  the  lines  that  the 
division  of  which  I  am  a  member  was  given  for  the  purpose  of  the 
attack,  it  was  thought  would  take  the  entire  day,  but  our  division 
was  on  its  objective  by  early  afternoon  and  had  commenced  to  dig 
in,  from  which  position  they  could  defy  the  Germans  with  impunity. 

"While  the  attack  was  going  on  I  went  up  to  Dead  Man's  HilL 
This  hill  is  the  last  word  in  the  destructiveness  of  war. 

"It  is  literally  rent  to  atoms.  Dugouts  have  been  blown  to 
pieces.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  had  been  killed  in  the  earlier 
battles  before  Verdun,  and  many  of  the  bodies  could  not  be  reached 
for  burial,  the  place  was  so  torn  up." 

OTHER    PERSONAL    GLIMPSES 

Many  other  personal  glimpses  of  the  fighting  come  from  officers 
and  men.  One  division  was  made  up  largely  of  Illinois  regiments, 
among  others  the  3d  Illinois  Infantry,  commanded  by  Col.  John  V. 
Clinnin.  The  position  held  by  these  troops  was  vital  to  the  entire 
advance,  and  it  required  rapid  action  on  the  first  day  to  reach  the 
objective  at  the  same  time  as  the  other  units. 

Mcnomme  creek  is  a  little  stream  which  is  not  shown  on  maps.  It 
runs  eastward  from  the  village  of  Septsarges  to  the  Meuse.  The 
stream  holds  vivid  memories  for  the  Illinois  infantry.  It  was  tliere 
that  it  met  the  most  severe  resistance,  the  Germans  catching  our  men 
just  as  they  were  relieving  other  young  soldiers.  The  men  fought 
their  way  down  to  the  creek.  On  the  other  side  along  the  highway 
between  Septsarge  and  Dannevoux  the  Germans  had  entrenched  them- 
selves and  were  shelling  the  road  which  the  Americans  had  crossed. 
They  were  also  using  intrenched  machine  guns  at  the  edge  of  the 
woods. 

"I  heard  bullets  whistling  overhead,"  said  a  wounded  soldier  in 
a  hospital.     "We  were  lying  near  the  edge  of  the  creek  at  the  time 

90 


AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

and  knew  that  a  machine  gun  was  shooting  at  us,  so  I  just  started 
out  and  got  it." 

"Our  colonel  was  right  up  there  with  us  getting  into  line,"  said 
Private  Hiram  E.  Burnett.  "One  night  when  the  shells  were  bursting 
all  around  and  several  men  were  wounded  the  colonel  went  over  the 
top  just  like  any  of  us." 

The  Bois  des  Forges  has  been  a  battle  ground  since  the  war  began, 
with  trenches  in  front  and  miles  of  barbed  wire,  machine  gun  nests 
and  concrete  pillboxes  inside.  A  frontal  attack  on  such  a  stronghold 
apparently  meant  suicide,  but  the  Illinois  men,  led  by  Col.  Sanborn 
and  Col.  Abel  Davis,  took  it  so  neatly  and  quickly  that  they  bagged 
nearly  1,000  soldiers,  fifteen  officers,  twenty-six  guns  ranging  from 
105s  down,  126  machine  guns,  twenty-one  flatcars,  two  rolling  kitch- 
ens, an  ambulance  and  thousands  of  rounds  of  ammunition. 

"We  were  looking  for  you  in  front,"  said  a  captured  German 
officer.  ' '  We  did  not  expect  that  you  would  come  through  the  swamp 
and  outflank  us.  We  did  not  think  that  any  Yankee  outfit  was  so 
foxy." 

"a  great  show"  _ 

"It  was  a  great  show  when  we  crossed  that  river  and  rushed  on 
through  the  woods,  cleaning  up  machine  gun  nests,"  said  Private 
Gray  McKindy  of  Woodstock.  "The  machine  guns  in  the  woods 
started  throwing  bullets  as  soon  as  we  reached  the  river.  They  thought 
they  could  stop  us  from  going  up  the  opposite  hill,  but  we  did  it 
and  got  every  gun  there." 

Private  Kenneth  W.  Steiger  was  one  of  those  who  went  in  on  the 
second  night  when  his  captain  called  for  volunteers  to  make  up  a 
patrol.  Steiger  became  separated  from  the  others  in  the  darkness  and 
ran  into  a  party  of  three  Germans.  Quickly  covering  them  with  his 
rifle  he  brought  all  three  back. 

Private  Bernard  Snyder  returned  with  prisoners  before  dark 
on  the  first  day.  Making  use  of  his  ability  to  speak  German,  he 
induced  a  dozen  Germans  to  lay  down  their  arms,  pick  up  stretchers 
and  carry  American  wounded  back  five  kilometers  (three  miles)  to 
where  ambulances  were  waiting. 

A  FIGHTING  CHAPLAIN 

Lieut.  Jorgen  R.  Enger,  the  chaplain  of  a  Kansas-Missouri  out- 
fit, carried  the  wounded  for  three  days  from  the  Montfaucon  woods 
two  miles  to  the  ambulance.  Searching  in  the  woods  in  the  darkness 
one  night  with  shells  bursting  and  bullets  whistling  he  found  a  husky 
sergeant  wounded  in  the  foot  and  growing  weaker  and  weaker  from 
loss  of  blood.  The  chaplain  shouldered  the  man  and  carried  him 
back  to  a  dressing  station,  saving  his  life. 

' '  I  didn  't  think  a  chaplain  would  do  a  thing  like  that, ' '  said  the 

91 


AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

sergeant.  "I  w»iild  rather  save  you  than  save  a  general,"  replied 
the  chaplain. 

When  not  searching  for  wounded  hidden  in  the  tangle  of  under- 
brush the  chaplain  was  busy  helping  the  surgeons  at  a  first  aid  dress- 
ing station. 

"I  never  thought  any  clergyman  would  have  the  opportunities 
for  doing  good  such  as  I  am  having,"  he  said  when  I  saw  him. 

Col.  Eugene  Houghton,  Wisconsin,  who  was  a  British  major 
until  America  entered  the  war,  distinguished  himself  by  personally 
leading  a  unit  of  New  York  men.  According  to  them  he  escaped 
death  repeatedly  as  by  a  miracle, 

"desert?  no,  wanted  to  fight" 

Capt.  Carl  F.  Laurer  while  assisting  in  the  examination  of 
German  prisoners,  was  surprised  when  an  American  prisoner  was 
brought  before  him.  "Where  do  you  belong?"  asked  the  captain. 
"I  am  with  an  aerial  squadron  in  the  south  of  France"  replied  the 
prisoner.  ' '  I  walked  fourteen  days  to  get  here. "  "  Did  you  desert  ? ' ' 
asked  Captain  Lauer.  "No,"  the  man  replied,  "I  want  to  fight. 
That  is  what  I  came  to  France  for.  When  I  get  home  the  folks  will 
ask  what  I  did  in  the  war  and  when  I  answer  'worked'  they  will 
say  'Why  the  devil  didn't  you  fight?'  "  The  boy's  wish  was  gratified 
and  he  was  sent  forward. 

*  *  We  have  everything  good  and  plenty — rations,  ammunition  and 
other  things.    It  looks  like  a  regular  Sunday." 

TEXAS  AND  OKLAHOMA  TROOPS  SHOW  GREAT 

FIGHTING  FORM 

In  this  district,  the  36th  Division,  made  up  of  troops  from  Texas 
and  Oklahoma,  veterans  and  raw  recruits  together,  showed  splendid 
fighting  form.  They  were  under  terrific  shell  fire  day  after  day,  but 
they  met  several  murderous  attacks  firmly,  and  drove  the  boches  back 
in  brilliant  counter  attack,  chasing  them  in  true  Ranger  style.  All 
these  men  showed  the  same  spirit  that  animated  Roosevelt's  renowned 
Rough  Riders  in  the  war  with  Spain,  so  many  of  whom  were  Texas 
and  Oklahoma  men. 

Reporting  this  fight.  General  Naulin,  commanding  the  Corps  of 
which  the  2d  and  36th  Divisions  were  parts,  said  "the  36th  Division, 
a  recent  formation  not  yet  completely  organized,  was  ordered  into  line 
on  the  night  of  October  6-7  to  relieve,  under  conditions  particularly 
delicate,  the  2d  Division,  and  to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  the  crest 
north  of  St.  Etienne  and  throw  him  back  to  the  Aisne.  Although 
being  under  fire  for  the  first  time,  the  young  soldiers  of  Maj.  Gen.  W. 
R.  Smith,  rivaling  in  combative  spirit  and  tenacity  the  old  and  valiant 
regiment  of  General  LeJeune,  accomplished  aU  the  tasks  set  for  them.*' 

92 


AMERICAN  VICTORY  AT  ST.  MIHIEL 

Every  American  knows  full  well  the  bright  record  of  the  2d 
Division  of  Infantry,  the  regulars  of  which  were  composed  of  the  5th 
and  6th  Marines  and  the  9tb.  and  23rd  Infantry,  These  are  the  boys 
who  stopped  the  Germans  up  in  Belleau  Wood  when  the  boches  were 
headed  for  Paris  and  cocksure  of  getting  there,  blandly  unaware  that 
they  were  goose-stepping  toward  an  American  knock-out. 

OUR  COLORED  TROOPS  WIN  CREDIT 

American  negro  troops  had  a  considerable  share  in  the  last  few 
months  of  fighting,  and  acquitted  themselves  in  a  highly  creditable 
manner.  They  were  great  trench  diggers  and  trench  fighters,  and 
their  endurance  on  the  march  was  a  marvel  to  the  allied  armies.  They 
were  very  popular  with  the  French  people,  who  were  delighted  with 
their  good  nature  and  their  never-ceasing  songs.  Eegular  negro 
melodies  these  songs  were,  nearly  all  of  them  of  the  camp-meeting 
variety — and  sung  with  that  choral  beauty  which  especially  distin- 
guishes all  of  their  musical  performances.  The  negro  notion  of  war 
and  indifference  to  death  was  instanced  in  the  case  where  a  white 
officer  overheard  one  of  them  at  the  zero  hour  call  out,  ' '  Good  night, 
ol'  world!" 

"The  colored  boys,"  said  Charles  N.  Wheeler,  a  distingijjshed 
correspondent  with  the  American  annies,  "are  great  fighters,  and 
are  no  better  and  no  worse  than  any  other  group  of  American  soldiers 
in  France,  whatever  the  blood  strain.  They  do  take  pardonable  pride 
in  the  fact  that  'Mistah'  Johnson,  a  colored  boy,  was  the  first  Ameri- 
can soldier  in  France  to  be  decorated  for  extraordinary  bravery  under 

fire.  THEY  CAN  FIGHT  AND  SING 

"The  color  line  has  about  died  out  in  the  American  army — in 
France.  They  play  together,  sing  their  songs  together — the  blacks 
and  the  white — and  they  go  over  the  top  together.  They  come  back 
together,  too,  the  wounded,  and  there  is  no  thought  of  the  color  of  a 
man's  skin.  They  mix  together  on  the  convoy  trains  going  up  to  the 
front,  and  all  sing  together,  sharing  each  other's  dangers  and  their 
joys.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  sight  to  see  a  crowd  of  white  doughboys 
around  a  piano  in  some  '  Y '  or  Red  Cross  hut,  singing  to  beat  the  band, 
with  a  colored  jass  expert  pounding  the  stuffing  out  of  the  piano.  The 
white  boys  enjoy  immensely  the  wit  of  the  colored  comrades,  and 
many  a  bleak  and  drab  day  of  privation  ^nd  suffering  is  made  a  bit 
brighter  by  the  humor  that  comes  spontaneously  to  the  lips  of  the 
'bronze  boys.' 

"The  children  of  France  love  them.  I  suppose  that  is  because 
they  wear  American  soldiers'  uniforms.  I  have  seen  scores  of  white 
children  holding  the  hands  of  colored  boys  and  trudging  along  on 
the  march  with  them  or  romping  into  their  tents  and  sitting  on  their 
knees  and  just  exuding  the  affection  that  all  the  children  of  France 
have  for  anything  and  everybody  from  the  United  States. ' ' 

93 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

AIR  CRAFT 

The  Hughes  report  on  air  craft,  submitted  in  October,  1918,  con- 
tained a  full  account  of  the  difficulties,  drawbacks  and  questionable 
management  that  had  held  back  the  manufacture  and  shipment  of 
airplanes  to  Europe.  In  September  there  were  on  the  French- 
Belgian  front  between  300  and  400  machines,  all  of  which  were  in 
the  scout  and  observation  classes,  with  no  regulation  combat  planes 
of  American  build;  but  American  airmen  had  conducted  many  suc- 
cessful actions  against  German  battle  planes,  and  a  good  many  Ameri- 
cans were  operating  French  and  British  battle  planes  in  action  back 
of  the  German  lines.  The  combined  American,  British,  French  and 
Canadian  planes  had  before  that  time  cleared  the  air  of  German 
observation  and  other  machines  in  front  of  the  allied  lines,  thereby 
preventing  hostile  observation  of  allied  camps  and  artillery  positions 
and  movements  of  troops  preparatory  to  attack. 

The  efficiency  of  this  combined  air  service  is  credited  with  having 
contributed  in  an  important  degree,  first  to  retarding  the  movement 
of  supplies  from  the  enemy  rear  to  the  enemy  fighting  line,  and  next 
to  disturbance  of  the  enemy  in  retreat.  The  Americans  especially  dis- 
tinguished themselves  by  flying  at  high  speed  along  the  last  of  the 
enemy  trenches  and  clearing  up  the  German  troops  therein  by  con- 
tinuous streams  of  machine  gun  fire.  American  flyers  also  made  suc- 
cessful raids  across  the  German  border,  blowing  up  munitions  works, 
railway  centers,  and  German  troops  at  concentration  points.  Between 
early  September  and  late  October,  1918,  they  dropped  thousands  of 
tons  of  high  explosives  inside  of  Germany.  At  the  same  time,  in 
association  with  British  and  Canadian  aviators,  they  put  a  definite  end 
to  German  air  raids  upon  the  British  Isles  and  interior  France.  The 
Canadian  air  service  during  the  summer  and  early  autumn  of  1918 
increased  at  the  rate  of  300  planes  per  month,  all  manufactured  in 
Canada. 

LIBERTY  MOTORS   AND  AIR  SERVICE 

After  July,  1918,  the  output  of  Liberty  motors  for  the  Govern- 
ment caught  up  with  the  immediate  demand.  It  increased  until  in 
October  it  reached  a  rate  of  about  5,000  a  month.  The  Ford  factory 
at  Detroit  alone  reported  at  the  end  of  October  an  established  monthly 
rate  of  increase  of  over  1,500. 

AMERICAN  FLYERS  DOWN  473  PLANES  IN  TWO  MONTHS 

Except  for  Sunday  and  one  or  two  other  days,  the  American 
aviators  had  unfavorable  flying  weather  during  the  week  previous 
to  the  signing  of  the  armistice. 

American  flyers  made  a  great  record  in  the  closing  days  of  war. 
In  the  period  from  September  12  to  11:00  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  November  11,   American  aviators  claim  they  brought  down  473 

94 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

German  machines,  making  a  grand  total  of  845  enemy  planes. 
Day  bombina-  groups  from  the  time  they  began  operations 
dropped  a  total  of  116,818  kilograms  of  bombs  within  the  German 
lines. 

THE  WAE  IN   THE   AIR 

Aviation  is  the  most  perilous  of  all  services,  calling  for  young 
bodies,  high  spirit,  quick  wit,  personal  initiative,  and  unshakable 
nerve.  Thus  it  has  drawn  in  the  best  and  brightest  of  America's 
sons — brilliant,  clear-eyed,  steady  youths,  who  take  the  air  and  its 
perils  with  joyous  ardor. 

The  danger,  the  romance,  the  thriU  of  air  fighting,  are  things  that 
never  were  known  in  war  until  this  one  called  into  being  vast  aerial 
navies  that  grappled  in  the  sky  and  rained  upon  the  earth  below 
"a  ghastly  dew"  of  blood. 

There  are  no  tales  of  this  war  more  fascinating  than  those  that 
have  been  told  b^^  these  men.  Courage  and  modesty  being  inseparable, 
our  aviators  avoid  print  and  cannot  be  interviewed  with  any  satis- 
faction. But  sometimes  they  write  home  to  a  mother,  a  sweetheart 
or  a  pal,  and  these  letters  now  and  then  come  to  light. 

CHANCE    OF    LIVING    NOW 

"I  cannot  describe  my  feelings,  right  off  the  bat,"  said  Eddie 
Rickenbacker,  the  ace  of  American  aces,  the  day  following  the  signing 
of  the  armistice.  "But  I  can  say  I  feel  ninety-nine  per  cent  better. 
There  is  a  chance  of  living  now  and  the  gang  is  glad. ' '  Rickenbacker 
became  a  captain  during  the  last  phase  of  the  war  and  has  twenty-six 
victories  over  enemy  airmen  to  his  credit.  To  Rickenbacker,  whose 
home  is  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  allied  command  gave  the  honor  of 
making  the  last  flight  over  the  German  front  and  firing  the  last  shot 
from  the  air  on  the  morning  of  November  11,  1918. 

AIR  plane's  tail  SHOT  OFF 

In  reporting  this  nwst  remarkable  occurrence  Edward  Price  Bell, 
an  American  correspondent,  wrote  as  follows  from  the  front : 

A  British  observer,  flying  a  powerful  machine  at  16,000  feet  over 
Ostend,  had  the  machine's  tail  shot  off  by  the  direct  hit  of  a  shell — 
a  very  unusual  occurrence.  The  machine  turned  upside  down,  out  of 
control,  and  the  pilot  was  thrown  out  of  hiS  seat.  By  some  inexplicable 
maneuver  he  managed  to  clamber  on  to  the  bottom  of  the  fuselage  of 
the  machine,  astride  of  which  he  sat  as  if  he  was  riding  a  horse. 

Though  the  machine  was  out  of  control,  owing  to  the  loss  of  its 
tail  planes,  yet  by  moving  forward  and  backward  he  so  managed  to 
balance  it  that  it  glided  fairly  steadily  downward,  although  upside 
down. 

He  successfully  brought  it  across  the  German  lines,  and  came 

95 


THE  WAR  IN  TEE  AIR 

safely  to  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  ground.    Then  he  crashed 
and  was  injured,  but  is  now  recovering  in  a  hospital. 

When  it  is  considered  that  this  incident  occurred  at  a  height  of 
16,000  feet,  over  hostile  territory,  and  that  during  the  airman's  ter- 
ribly precarious  ride  he  was  subject  to  antiaircraft  fire,  and  liable  to 
the  attack  of  hostile  scouts,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  his  was  a 
record  achievement. 

Recently,  another  airman  was  shot  down,  out  of  control,  from 
13,000  feet,  and  fell  fluttering  like  a  leaf,  toward  the  ground.  At 
a  height  of  9,000  feet  he  fainted.  Shortly  afterward  he  came  to  and 
found  himself  in  the  machine  upside  down,  in  a  marsh,  absolutely 
unhurt.  Many  airmen,  of  course,  have  been  through  several  "crashes" 
without  sustaining  so  much  as  a  broken  collar  bone. 

JOINS  THE  SKY  FIGHTERS 

This  story  of  Lieut.  Manderson  Lehr,  who  refused  a  transfer 
home  and  shortly  after  died  in  combat,  is  taken  (by  permission) 
from  his  personal  letters  written  to  a  friend  in  this  country.  It  is 
typical  of  many  that  might  be  told  by  or  about  brilliant  young 
Americans  who  would  not  wait  for  America's  participation  in  the 
war,  but  went  voluntarily,  with  high  hearts  and  eager  hands,  to  help 
those  other  boys  of  France  and  the  British  Empire  to  whom  had 
fallen  so  large  and  so  momentous  a  part  in  the  world's  salvation. 

Nearly  all  of  these  American  lads,  the  choicest  spirits  of  our 
nation,  took  up  whatever  work  they  could  find — anything,  so  long 
as  it  was  useful,  or  contributed  in  any  way  to  winning  out  against 
the  German  hordes,  or  stem  the  flood  of  German  crime  that  was  sweep- 
ing over  Europe,  that  would  later,  if  it  were  not  stopped,  cover  our 
continent  with  an  inundation  of  blood  and  desolation.  Most  of  them, 
like  Lieutenant  Lehr,  went  into  ambulance  service;  and  afterward 
when  the  air  planes  were  ready  and  needed  men  to  fly  them,  took 
to  the  air.  These  were  the  men  who  "put  out  the  eyes"  of  the  German 
armies  and  piloted  the  allies  to  many  a  -".actory.  And  alas !  Many  of 
them,  like  Lehr,  gave  up  their  lives — though  not  in  vain,  nor  without 
having  sent  down  to  crashing  death,  each  one,  his  share  of  the 
flyers  of  the  foe. 

LEHR'S  STORY 

Lieutenant  Lehr's  story  begins  with  a  letter  from  France  just 
after  his  arrival  in  Paris  on  May  15,  1917,  when  he  joined  the 
Ambulance  Corps — later  entering  the  air  service.  It  covered  a  period 
of  more  than  a  year's  experiences  at  the  front. 

The  last  letter  from  Lieut.  Lehr  was  dated  June  14th,  1918,  when 
tile  big  German  drive  was  about  at  it^  climax.     According  to  news 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

reports  from  the  front  Lehr  had  a  period  of  intense  activity  up  to 
July  15th,  when  he  was  reported  missing.  "Bud"  was  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  adept  of  American  fliers. 

One  of  the  last  news  reports  from  the  front  told  of  him  still 
flying  under  French  colors  and  having  twice  returned  from  raids 
with  his  passenger  killed  by  enemy  attacks  and  of  his  being  awarded 
the  war  cross.  The  same  report  told  of  a  150  mile  raid  into  Germany 
with  eight  other  French  Machines — when  a  patrol  of  twelve  German 
planes  were  attacked  and  three  of  them  sent  down  in  flames,  while 
all  the  nine  French  machines  returned  safely. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  Lehr's  later  letters  from  the  front: 

FLYING   AT   THE   FRONT 

Sector at  the  Front,  Oct.  12,  1917. — It's  blowing  terrifically, 

wind  and  rain.  You  can't  imagine  how  I  picture  you  people  at  home, 
warm,  happy  and  safe.  I've  been  out  here  a  week  now.  Three 
days  of  it  has  been  flying  weather.  Up  25,000  feet  and  ten  miles  into 
Germany  is  my  record  so  far  and  I've  actually  had  one  combat  with 
a  boche.  He  was  below  me,  at  flrst,  far  in  the  distance.  I  was 
supposed  to  be  protecting  a  bombing  expedition  of  ten  machines.  I 
saw  this  spot,  started  away  from  the  rest  and  through  excitement, 
anticipation  and  the  goodness  knows  what,  I  climbed,  went  faster  and 
faster  until  I  had  the  sun  between  us  and  the  German  below  me. 
Then  I  dived;  he  heard  me  and  "banked";  we  both  looped  and  then 
came  head  on,  firing  incessantly. 

My  machine  gun  was  empty  and  the  boche  had  more,  for  he  got 
in  behind  me  and  ' '  Putt !  Putt !  Putt ! ' '  past  my  ear  he  came,  so  I 
dove,  went  into  a  "vrille"  with  him  on  top,  came  out  and  squared  off, 
and  he  let  me  have  it  again.  All  I  could  do  was  to  maneuver,  for  I 
had  no  shells  left  and  I  did  not  want  to  beat  it,  so  I  stuck.  We  both 
came  head  on  again  and  I  said  a  little  prayer,  but  the  next  time  I 
looked  Mr.  Boche  was  going  home.  I  "peaked"  straight  down,  made 
my  escadrille,  accompanied  them  home  and  when  I  got  out  of  my 
furs  I  was  wringing  wet  in  spite  of  the  fact  it  was  cold  as  ice  where 
I  had  done  my  fighting. 

CONSIDERS  HIS  OWN  TACTICS 

I  looked  my  machine  over  and  found  five  holes  in  it,  but  nothing 
serious.  Tomorrow  is  going  to  be  bad  and  no  one  will  fly  unless  they 
call  for  volunteers,  and  then  I  think  most  of  us  will  go.  I'd  like 
to  figure  out  what  I  did  wrong.  First  of  all,  I  was  so  excited  that 
I  fired  all  my  shots  at  the  German  and  he  maneuvered  out  of  my  way 
and  then  came  at  me  as  I  was  helpless.  My  captain  gave  me  "harkey" 
for  staying  when  out  of  bullets,  so  I  guess  the  rest  was  0.  K.,  but 
I'd  hate  to  run  from  any  boche. 

97 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

MEN  DIE  IN  FAULTY  PLANES 

The  machine  I've  been  flying  has  been  condemned,  so  I  expect 
to  be  sent  back  to  get  another  one,  a  brand  new  one  that  has  never 
been  on  the  front.  Twenty-five  pilots  in  the  last  month  have  been 
killed  by  wings  dropping  off.  I  've  seen  twelve  go  and  it  surely  takes 
the  old  pep  out  of  you.  I  was  above  one  and  saw  his  wing  crumple, 
then  fall.  A  man  is  so  utterly  helpless  he  must  merely  sit  there  and 
wait  to  be  killed,  and  when  you're  flying  the  same  type  of  machine 
it  doesn't  help  your  confidence  any.  I  was  glad  they  condemned 
mine,  for  I've  put  my  old  "cuckoo"  through  some  awful  tests  and 
it's  about  ready  to  fall  apart. 

We  expect  to  change  soon  and  go  up  to  a  new  offensive  in  F . 

If  I  get  through  that  I'm  going  to  change  over  to  the  American 
army.  They  have  offered  me  a  commission  and  I  think  I'll  take  it. 
My  fingers  are  cramped  and  my  feet  have  long  since  been  numb. 
Now  I'm  going  to  wrap  up  in  my  fur  leathers  and  go  to  bed.  This 
is  war. 

FIGHTS  WITH  PLYING  CIRCUS 

Feb.  1,  1918. — Had  a  great  time  this  last  week,  and  made  six  long 
bombardments.  For  the  first  three  times  we  had  no  trouble  getting 
across  whatsoever.  Coming  out  the  last  three  times  we  got  some  real 
competition.  It  was  in  the  form  of  the  flying  circus  or  "tangoes," 
which  consists  of  fifteen  of  the  best  pilots  in  Germany,  commanded  by 
Baron  von  Richthofen,  who  seems  a  good  sort,  for  when  you  fight 
him  and  you  both  miss  he  waves  and  we  wave  back.  We  had 
been  at  it  consistently  for  four  days,  and  so  they  sent  these 
birds  down  opposite  us  to  stop  us.  We  had  been  in  Germany 
for  some  distance  and  had  reached  our  objective  and  bombed 
it.  There  was  a  heavy  fog  below  us,  so  I  took  a  couple  of  turns  to 
make  sure  we  could  see  our  objective.  We  dropped  our  bombs  and 
then  I  turned  to  the  right  to  see  the  damage.  I  had  to  take  a  large 
turn,  for  the  "archies"  were  shooting  pretty  close.  I  looked  for  my 
escadrille,  and  saw  these  machines  way  off  in  the  distance.  I  started 
for  them  and  soon  caught  up  with  them.  Then  I  swerved  and  dipped 
up  to  them,  for  I  thought  them  a  little  strange.  I  got  up  closer,  and, 
wow !  all  three  dived  at  me  like  a  rock  and  bullets  flew  by  me,  cutting 
my  plane,  so  I  pulled  up  at  them,  fired,  swerved  so  my  gunner  could 
let  them  have  it  also  and  then  saw  the  iron  cross  flash  by,  so  I  knew 
it  was  the  Huns.  I  started  getting  altitude  and  went  up  high  and 
then  the  boches  got  the  sun  between  them  and  my  plane  and  came 
again,  but  I  thought  this  would  happen  and  "peaked."  They  went 
under  me  and  that  left  me  on  top,  so  I  gave  them  about  120  bullets, 
and  one  went  for  home.  The  other  two  came  by  again  and  I  went 
into  a  tight  spiral  so  my  gunner  could  pump  at  them — but  nothing 
doing.    Thej  beat  it  home  and  so  did  I,  for  it  had  been  three  to  one, 

08 


1.  French  Cuirassier  being  fed  by  Belgian  woman.  Z.  Major 
Richardson  of  the  British  Army  and  two  of  his  bloodhounds  used 
to  find  wounded  soldiers  on  Belglaa  battlefields,  (/ntemationoi 
Vw3»  8ervio9.) 


Above — Red  Cross  men  tenderly  caring  for  the  wounded.  The  services  of  the 
American  Red  Cross  were  invaluable  to  the  army  in  France  and  won  the  admiration 
of  all  thf  Allies. 

Hfluir — Wounded  man  making  his  way  i)ainfullv  back  to  the  rear,  with  grim 
determination  to  keep  going  and  all  the  grit  of  the  typical  American  soldier.  (oMcial 
Photos  by  Signal  Corps,  U.  S.  A.) 


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O    CI. 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

When  I  landed  I  had  five  holes  in  my  machine.  One  of  the  wires 
had  heen  shot  away  and  gave  me  some  trouble  in  landing. 

Feb.  10,  1918. — We  have  been  pretty  busy  and  had  some  exciting 
times.  I  almost  got  mine  day  before  yesterday  and  feel  pretty  lucky 
to  be  here.  We  started  out  on  a  long  trip  into  Germany  and  all 
the  way  over  we  had  no  trouble  at  all.  After  we  bombed,  my  observer 
and  I  dived  down  on  some  villages  and  used  our  own  guns  on  them. 
We  got  so  low  that  the  anti-aircraft  guns  were  popping  too  close,  so 
we  beat  it.  We  soon  saw  a  bunch  of  hangars  below  us  and  we  dived 
down  on  them  and  shot  at  them.  In  a  few  minutes  a  bunch  of  Huns 
came  up  from  the  hangars  after  us  and  we  beat  it  to  catch  up  with 
the  others.  We  got  up  with  them  and  looked  behind  us  and  there 
were  a  number  of  Germans  sneaking  down  on  us. 

Then  the  battle  commenced  and  for  forty  minutes  we  had  a  hot 
fight.  We  picked  off  (censored)  of  them  and  they  went  plunging 
down  in  flames.  Then  the  others  went  back  and  we  all  returned 
safely,  but  I  noticed  that  my  machine  worked  queerly,  and  when  I 
landed  I  had  a  hard  time,  and  barely  got  to  the  ground  without 
smashing  to  pieces. 

I  looked  the  machine  over,  and  you  should  have  seen  it.  From 
top  to  bottom  it  was  one  mass  of  holes.  One  bullet  passed  through 
my  combination  and  hit  a  can  of  tobacco.  Another  cut  a  main  spar 
on  one  of  my  wings,  and  another  hit  my  stabilizer,  tearing  it  half  in 
two.  One  other  hit  my  gas  tank  and  put  a  hole  clear  through  it. 
Luckily  my  gas  was  low  and  it  did  not  explode,  but,  believe  me, 
I  was  lucky, 

IN    THE   BIG    GERMAN    DRIVE 

April  20,  1918. — The  orderly  has  just  tapped  on  my  window 
to  put  down  my  shade,  which  means  the  Gotlias  are  on  their  way. 
The  guns  are  starting.  This  attack  has  been  frightful — day  after 
day  long  lines  of  ambulances  roll  by  our  camp  carrying  large  numbers 
of  wounded.  Tomorrow  we  shall  continue  our  work  of  knocking  dov/n 
their  batteries  and  bombing  their  railroads.  To-night,  novf,  they 
are  trying  to  get  us. 

I  started  on  a  "permission"  about  three  weeks  ago  and  had 
beautiful  visions  of  peace  and  content  for  a  week,  but  was  called  back 
immediately  at  the  beginning  of  this  horrible  attack.  Things  look 
bad,  and  in  a  few  days  we  are  moving  fai-ther  up. 

Our  work  here  has  been  hard  and  exciting  and  always  working 
in  any  kind  of  weather.  While  our  loss  has  been  heavy  we  have 
accomplished  wonders.  Going  over  on  cloudy  days  when  the  heavy 
black  clouds  hang  down  to  within  fifty  meters  of  the  ground,  spotting 
a  group  of  trucks,  a  line  of  cars,  or  a  battery  of  troops,  then  bombing 
them,  shooting  them  up  with  your  machine  guns  and  shooting  back 
up  into  the  elouds  midst  a  rain  of  luminous  machine  gun  bullets 

ft 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

from  the  ^ound  is  interesting  work.  But  the  terror  of  those  on  the 
ground,  poor  devils!  Yet  it's  got  to  be  brought  home.  Out  of 
tweuty-four  trips  we  lost  eight  machines.  Poor  Chuck  Kerwood  was 
among  them.  Chuck  is  an  American  boy  from  Philadelphia,  and  he 
has  been  with  us  for  five  months. 

I  had  a  chance  to  go  back  to  the  states  as  an  instructor,  and 
almost  took  it,  but  when  the  time  came  around  to  leave  this  band  of 
men  who  have  been  in  it  for  almost  four  years,  I  couldn't  do  it. 
They  are  men,  and  have  pulled  me  out  of  tight  holes  when  I  was 
green  at  this  game,  and  they  did  it  at  the  risk  of  their  lives.  Now 
I've  seen  them  drop  off  one  at  a  time,  fine  young  Frenchmen,  and 
I  guess  the  least  I  can  do  is  to  stay  right  by  them  and  I  feel  my 
work  is  here. 

In  Hospital,  May  3,  1918. — Well,  here  I  am  at  last,  but  I  fooled 
them  for  six  months.  Finally  one  slipped  up  behind  me.  I  never 
saw  him,  but  felt  him.  Only  got  it  in  the  leg,  so  it  isn't  very 
serious,  except  that  the  bullet  was  incendiary.  They  have  oodles 
of  sulphur  on  them  and  I'm  afraid  of  complications.  This  is  a  nice 
hospital  in  a  nice  location ;  only  thing  that  I  hate  about  it  is  that  I 
may  not  be  able  to  get  back  to  my  escradrille  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
days. 

SEVERE  BOMBING  BY  GERMANS 

May  16,  1918 — Going  to  have  another  operation  tomorrow  and 
then  I  think  I'll  be  well.  And,  believe  me,  if  I  am  I  am  going  back 
and  get  somebody  for  this.  We  are  now  on  the  Somme,  near  Kouen. 
I  suppose  you  know  Baron  von  Richthofen  has  been  brought  down. 
I'm  sorry,  for  he  was  a  game,  clean  scrapper,  and  I  know,  for  I've 
had  several  brushes  with  him.  The  Huns  came  over  here  last  night 
and  dropped  sixty  bombs,  killing  125  people  and  wounding  I  don't 
konw  how  many.  Several  of  the  bombs  hit  about  300  meters  from  here 
and  our  beds  shook  like  the  dickens. 

COMMENTS  ON  HIS  WAR  CROSS 

At  the  Front,  June  14,  1918. — I've  been  back  here  from  the 
hospital  for  several  days  and  we  are  having  beautiful  weather,  doing 
lots  of  work  and  losing  lots  of  men,  but  getting  results.  I  think  by 
now  you  have  all  my  letters  explaining  the  change  into  the  American 
arm}-  and  the  croix  de  guerre,  which  doesn't  signify  a  great  deal. 
Things  look  pretty  bad  now,  but  the  French  are  holding  strong  with 
the  constant  arrival  of  Americans  and  I  think  the  Hun  advance  is 
stopped.  We  have  been  working  at  very  low  altitudes  and  while  we 
have  lost  men  heavily  the  work  was  extremely  effective.  We  have 
been  shifted  from  one  part  of  the  front  to  another  so  that  one  hardly 
has  time  to  unpack  before  we  go  to  a  new  attack.  Our  car  has  a 
broken  piston,  so  we  have  had  to  walk  more  than  usual  and  my  leg 
gets  so  worn  out  in  a  short  time  that  it  is  slow  going. 

MO 


TEE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

GREAT  FRENCH  FLYER  BRINGS  DOWN  115 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year,  Lieut.  Rene  Fonck,  the  great 
French  flyer  and  ace  of  aces  of  all  the  belligerent  forces,  had  only 
nineteen  successes  to  his  credit,  but  during  the  last  days  of  fighting  the 
wily  Lieutenant  scored  many  victories  bringing  his  totals  up  to  seventy 
five  enemy  airplanes  officially  destroyed,  with  forty  more  probable 
successes  awaiting  official  verification.  The  final  list  of  Lieut.  Fonck 
IS  all  the  more  astonishing  when  it  is  considered  that  he  made  flights 
only  when  he  thought  himself  in  the  fittest  condition,  and  every  time 
he  'flew  he  triumphed  over  the  German  Aviators.  His  wonderful 
success  is  accredited  to  his  incomparable  tactics,  keen  eyesight  and 
most  remarkable  skill. 

OTHER  CHAMPIONS  OF  THE  AIR 

Among  other  champion  flyers  of  the  allied  forces  Col.  W.  A. 
Bishop  of  the  British  is  credited  with  seventy-two  victories ;  Lieuten- 
ant Coppens  of  Belgium,  wounded  during  the  late  fighting,  and  with  a 
leg  amputated,  holds  the  record  of  thirty-six  victories;  Lieutenant 
Baracchini  the  Italian  flyer  has  thirty  victories  to  his  credit;  Eddie 
Rickenbacker,  the  American  ace,  is  responsible  for  twenty-six  enemy 
victims,  and  Edward  Parsons,  another  American  flyer  is  credited  with 
eight  official  victories  and  seven  more  unconfirmed.  Captain  Kosakofi' 
the  Russian  ace  held  seventeen  successes  to  his  credit  at  the  close  of 
Russias  fighting. 

ENEMY  ACES  ALSO  SCORE 

Lieutenant  TJdet  of  Germany  is  the  ace  of  enemy  aces  and  holds 
the  record  of  sixty  victories;  Captain  Brunmwsky  of  the  Austrian 
forces  is  next  with  thirty-four  to  his  credit ;  Sergeant  Fiselier  the 
German  flyer  serving  for  Bulgaria  is  credited  with  seven  victims,  and 
Captain  Schults  also  a  German  serving  for  Turkey  had  eleven 
victories. 

QUENTIN  ROOSEVELT  LOSES  HIS  LIFE 

On  Sunday  July  14th,  1918,  a  violent  encounter  took  place  be- 
tween German  battleplanes  and  American  Air  forces  trying  to  break 
through  the  German  defense  over  the  Marne,  In  this  engagement 
Lieut.  Quentin  Roosevelt  was  brought  down  and  killed  near  Chambry, 
then  behind  the  German  lines.  He  was  buried  with  military  honors 
by  German  airmen,  at  the  spot  where  he  fell.  His  grave  was  located 
later  by  one  of  his  fellow  air  scouts. 

AMERICAN  AVIATOR  GETS  IRON  CROSS 

One  of  the  remarkable  feats  performed  by  Yankee  air  men,  was 
that  of  Lieut.  Wm.  T.  "Webb  Jr.  of  Buffalo,  a  member  of  an  American 
squadron  which  encountered  a  German  battleplane  while  flying  over 
the  German  lines.  The  American  flyers  surrounded  the  German 
Pokker   like  a  flock  of  birds,  and  instead  of  shooting  it  down,  which 

101 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  AIR 

would  have  been  easy,  they  maneuvered  their  planes  so  the  boehe 
machine  was  forced  toward  the  American  lines.  The  German  airmen 
fought  desperately,  but.  in  vain,  to  break  through,  and  was  forced 
lower  and  lower  to  the  ground.  Upon  reaching  the  ground  he  refused 
to  stop  his  motor  until,  after  bumping  over  two  fields,  a  bullet  was 
fired  through  his  gas  tank  setting  it  afire.  The  two  Germans  jumped 
from  the  machine  to  the  ground  uninjured.  Both  wore  iron  crosses. 
Lieut.  Webb  landed  his  machine,  jumped  out,  grabbed  an  iron  cross 
from  one  of  the  terrified  Germans,  and  rose  again  to  join  his 
companions. 

EYES  OF  THE  ARMY  ALWAYS  OPEN 

Few  civilians  have  any  idea  of  the  intense,  close  watch  that  was 
kept  upon  the  enemy  throughout  the  struggle.  Soldiers  on  "listening 
post"  would  crawl  out  every  night  to  and  sometimes  into  the  enemy 
lines  and  on  their  return  report  what  they  had  heard.  By  day, 
aviators  came  back  from  flights  over  enemy  positions  and  gave  details 
of  what  they  had  seen.  Every  hill,  tree-top,  church  spire,  tall  build- 
ing and  captive  balloon  watched  ever}'-  move  of  the  enemy  and 
reported  it.  Thes^  reports  by  the  ears  and  eyes  of  the  armies  enabled 
American  and  allied  commanders  to  plan  their  infantry  and 
artillery  attaelu;. 

AMERICAN  INFORMATION    SERVICE   CHART 

Knowledge  of  conditions  in  Germany  during  the  war  was  so  accu- 
rate that  the  American  general  staff  had  computed  many  weeks  in 
advance  almost  the  exact  date  on  which  the  breaking  point  would  be 
reached.  A  chart  in  Secretary  Baker's  office  shows  the  fluctuations 
in  the  "morale  of  the  German  nation"  from  August,  1914,  to  the 
month  of  November,  1918. 

The  chart  shows  how  German  morale  fell  and  rose  under  the 
influence  of  the  military  situation,  the  results  of  the  submarine  cam- 
paign, the  unanimity  of  purpose  evidenced  by  the  different  groups 
in  the  reichstag,  and  the  economic  condition  of  the  country.  So  accu- 
rate was  the  information  that  the  "morale  line"  reached  the  zero 
point  between  Nov.  10  and  15. 

The  chart  indicates  clearly  that  practically  every  major  opera- 
tion of  the  German  military  forces  was  inaugurated  when  the  morale 
line  showed  dangerous  slumps. 

A  big  map  in  the  war  office  locates  not  only  every  allied  unit  but 
the  composition  of  the  opposition  forces,  their  commanders,  and,  in 
most  cases,  their  headquarters. 

The  war  supplement  to  this  book  contains  a  full  account  of 
American  aviation,  list  of  our  sixty-three  "aces,"  honor  roll  and 
names  of  American  aviators  who  received  decoratiom  for  braverv. 


lOiJ 


CHAPTER  VL 

CAUSES  OF  THE  WAE 

National  and  Race  Prejudices — The  Triple  Alliance — The 
Triple  Entente — Teuton  vs.  Slav — Influence  of  Russian 
Diplomacy/ — Russia  vs.  Austria — Control  of  Balkan 
Seaports — England's  Commercial  Supremacy  Chal- 
lenged by  Germany — Assassination  of  Archduke  Fran- 
cis Ferdinand  of  Austria  by  a  Serb. 

''ITHIN  the  space  of  less  than  a  week  from  August  1, 
1914,  five  of  the  six  ** great  powers"  of  Europe  became 
involved  in  a  war  that  quickly  developed  into  the 
greatest  and  most  sanguinary  struggle  of  all  time.  The 
European  conflagration,  long  foreseen  by  statesmen  and  diplo- 
mats, and  dreaded  of  all  alike,  had  broken  out. 

Beginning  with  the  thunder  of  Austrian  guns  at  Belgrade, 
the  reverberations  of  war  were  heard  in  every  capital  of  the 
Old  World.  Austria's  declaration  of  war  against  Servia  was 
followed  by  the  alignment  of  Germany  with  its  Teuton  neigh- 
bor against  the  forces  of  Russia,  France  and  England.  Italy 
alone,  of  the  six  great  powers,  declined  to  align  itself  with  its 
formal  allies  and  made  a  determined  effort  at  the  outset  to 
maintain  its  neutrality. 

Soon  the  highways  of  Europe  resounded  with  the  hoof- 
beats  and  the  tramp  of  marching  hosts,  with  the  rattle  of  arms 
and  the  rumble  of  artillery.  Of  such  a  war,  once  begun,  no  man 
could  predict  the  end.  But  the  world  realized  that  it  was  a 
catastrophe  of  unparalleled  proportions,  a  failure  of  civiliza- 
tion in  its  stronghold,  a  disaster  to  humanity. 

For  more  than  forty  years  the  great  powers  of  Europe  had 
been  at  peace  with  one  another.  Though  war  had  threatened 
now  and  then,  diplomacy  had  avoided  the  actual  outbreak. 
Brt  that  the  dreaded  conflict  was  inevitable  had  long  been 

103 


104  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 

recognized.  For  its  coming  immense  armaments  had  been  pre- 
pared, until  the  burdens  of  taxation  laid  upon  the  people  had 
become  in  themselves  a  source  of  danger.  But  behind  it  all 
lay  the  sinister  influence  of  the  "junker"  element  of  Germany 
— the  military  party,  swollen  with  pride  in  the  development  of 
the  German  army  by  more  than  forty  years  of  preparation  for 
conflict,  and  the  naval  party,  eager  for  "der  Tag"  which 
should  bring  a  trial  of  the  new  German  navy  against  the 
battle  fleets  of  an  enemy.  Fostering  and  encouraging  these 
militaristic  sentiments  was  the  growing  desire  of  Germany 
for  *'a  place  in  the  sun,"  which  was  translatable  only  as  a 
desire  for  world  domination.  Greater  and  wider  markets  for 
German  commerce  were  urgently  demanded,  and  visions  of 
Germany  as  mistress  of  the  seas,  with  a  great  colonial  empire, 
and  of  the  Kaiser  as  the  undisputed  militarj^  overlord  of 
Europe,  already  filled  and  fired  the  Teuton  imagination. 

The  political  alignment  of  the  great  powers  prior  to  the 
war  was  as  follows :  On  the  one  side  was  the  Triple  Alliance, 
including  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  and  Italy ;  while  on  the 
other  was  the  Triple  Entente,  comprising  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Russia.  As  the  event  proved,  the  uncertain  ele- 
ment in  this  line-up  was  Italy,  which  had  a  real  grievance 
against  Austria  in  the  latter 's  possession  of  the  former  Ital- 
ian territory  known  as  the  Trentino,  and  which  w^as  not  con- 
sulted by  Germany  and  Austria  prior  to  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities.  She  therefore  declined  to  enter  the  war  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Triple  Alliance,  but  was  later  found  in  the  field 
against  Austria,  and  thenceforth  rendered  powerful  aid  to 
the  cause  of  ''the  Allies,"  as  the  members  of  the  Triple 
Entente  and  their  supporters  soon  came  to  be  known. 

It  was  in  the  Balkans,  long  regarded  as  the  zone  of  danger 
to  European  peace,  that  the  war-clouds  gathered  and  dark- 
ened rapidly.  For  generations  Austria  and  Russia  had  strug- 
gled diplomatically  for  the  control  of  Balkan  seaports,  with 
tbe  Balkan  states  acting  as  buffers  in  the  diplomatic  strife. 
Servia  acted  as  a  bar  to  Austria's  commercial  route  to  the 
LiSIgean,  by  way  of  the  Sanjak  of  Novi  Bazar  to  Saloniki, 
while  Russia  was  Servia 's  great  ally  and  stood  stoutly  be- 
hind the  little  Slav  kingdom  in  its  opposition  to  Austrian 
aggression. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  lOfe 

AMBITIONS   OF   SERVIA 

Then  came  the  recent  Balkan  Wars,  and  their  onteome  was 
viewed  with  alarm.  Austria  uneasily  watched  the  approach 
of  Servia  to  the  Adriatic  and  the  ^gean.  The  formation  of 
the  new  new  autonomous  state  of  Albania,  between  Servia  and 
the  Adriatic,  was  all  that  prevented  Austria  from  attacking 
Servia  during  that  crisis.  The  terms  of  peace  left  the  situa- 
tion, as  it  concerned  Austria  and  Eussia,  practically  as  it  had 
been.  Austria  made  no  further  progress  toward  the  sea,  and 
Russia  remained  the  ally  of  Servia.  Bulgaria  had  failed  in 
its  efforts  to  reach  Salonica. 

At  this  stage  another  element  exerted  its  influence.  Servia 
awoke  to  the  possibility  of  a  Greater  Servia.  An  Empire  of 
the  Slavs  had  long  been  dreamed  of.  In  Austria-Hungary 
itself  millions  of  Slavs  were  dreaming  of  it  and  awaiting  the 
disruption  of  Austria-Hungary,  held  together  now,  as  they 
argue,  only  by  the  indomitable  will  of  the  old  Emperor, 
Franz  Joseph.  The  hatred  between  the  Slavs  and  the  Teutonic 
Austrians  is  intense.  The  annexation  by  Austria  of  Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina,  in  which  Servians  predominate,  increased 
the  Servian  hatred  and  the  indignation  of  the  whole  Slav 
world  to  the  point  of  violence.  A  conflict  was  avoided  with 
difficulty.  These  principalities  had  hoped  to  form  part  of  a 
Greater  Servia.  Had  not  Russia  been  exhausted  by  the  war 
with  Japan,  Servia  would  have  called  upon  her  ally  and  the 
crisis  would  have  come  then.  As  it  was,  the  Balkans  teemed 
with  plots  and  counterplots  against  the  Austrians,  culminating 
in  the  assassination  of  the  Arch-Duke  and  heir-apparent  to  the 
Austrian  throne,  Francis  Ferdinand,  known  for  his  anti-Slav 
principles,  and  therefore  feared  and  hated  as  the  king  to  be. 
The  assassination  occurred  at  Serajevo  in  Bosnia,  where  Serv- 
ian disaffection  was  seething.  Austria  immediately  laid  the 
crime  on  the  Servian  government. 

AUSTEIA  DECLAEES  WAB 

li'ailing  in  her  peremptory  demands  for  satisfaction,  Aus- 
tria declared  war,  July  28,  1914,  apparently  for  revenge^  ^nt 
behind  her  righteous  indignation  she  still  held  in  view  her 


m-  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAli 

traditional  ambition,  a  port  on  the  Mediterranean^  to  be  se- 
cured by  the  complete  control  of  the  Novi  Bazar  route  to 
Salonica,  a  route  which,  besides  its  commercial  importance, 
is  of  tremendous  strategic  value  to  the  nation  which  com- 
mands it.  The  treaty  of  Berlin  of  1878,  after  the  Eusso- 
Turkish  War,  had  given  Austria  the  military,  political,  and 
commercial  control  of  the  route  within  the  Sanjak  of  Novi 
Bazar,  then  a  part  of  Turkey. 

But  now,  in  the  division  of  spoils  following  the  Balkan 
Wars,  Servia  gained  control  of  Novi  Bazar,  Pristina,  Uskub, 
and  Istip,  or  practically  the  entire  route  to  a  short  distance 
north  of  Salonica,  where  the  new  boundaries  of  Greece  had 
been  extended.  This  meant  that  Austria  saw  herself  shut  out 
from  the  Sanjak,  and  only  by  the  destruction  and  subsequent 
occupation  of  Servia  could  Austria  regain  her  ascendancy 
over  the  route.  Victory  would  mean  a  long  step  by  Austria 
toward  the  sea. 

PLOTS  AIs^D  COUNTERPLOTS 

The  *' balance  of  power"  among  European  nations  has 
hitherto  been  maintained  because  the  formation  of  a  single 
nation  out  of  the  Balkan  States  has  not  been  possible.  Al- 
though the  people  of  these  states  have  similar  pursuits,  aiid 
live  much  alike  in  all  regions,  they  have  preserved  their  orig- 
inal racial  differences.  A  village  of  Albanians  may  be  within 
a  few  miles  of  a  village  of  Greeks.  Yet  through  centuries 
both  have  remained  racially  distinct.  Here  and  there  the  bar- 
riers have  given  way  som.ewhat,  but  in  general ^the  races  per- 
sist side  by  side,  sometimes  peaceably,  more  often  in  mutual 
distrust  or  open  feud.  Such  division  has  been  fostered  by 
the  great  nations,  and  new  states  have  been  created,  as  re- 
cently Albania,  since  the  formation  of  a  great  state  in  the 
Balkans  by  the  union  of  all  or  the  absorbing  greatness  of 
one,  would  overthrow  the  balance  of  power,  and  besides  inter- 
pose an  insurmountable  obstacle  between  Austria  and  Kussia, 
and  the  sea. 

Thus  the  states  have  been  played  against  each  other. 
Sometimes  the  game  has  been  one  of  diplomacy,  or  one  of 
force,  hurling  the  states  at  each  other's  throats. 


HOW  WAR  WAS  DECLARED 

Ultimatum  hy  Austria  to  Servia — War  Declared  by  Austria — - 
Russia  Mobilizes — Germany  Declares  War  on  Russia 
Augvst  1 — France  and  England  Involved — Germans 
Enter  Belgium — Scenes  in  European  Capitals. 

N  SUNDAY,  June  28,  1914,  a  Servian  student  named 
Prinzep  shot  and  killed  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand, 
heir  to  the  thrones  of  Austria-Hungary,  and  his  morgan- 
atic wife,  the  Duchess  of  Hohenberg,  in  the  streets  of  Serajevo, 
a  town  in  Bosnia  which  the  royal  couple  were  visiting. 

Nearly  four  weeks  later,  on  July  23,  the  Austro-Hungarian 
government,  fixing  responsibility  for  the  assassination  upon 
Servian  intrigues,  presented  to  Servia  a  number  of  demands 
which  formed  a  very  drastic  ultimatum,  requiring  compliance 
within  forty-eight  hours,  with  the  alternative  of  war.  Ser-^da 
was  required  to  condemn  "the  propaganda  directed  against 
Austria"  and  to  take  proceedings  against  all  accessories  to  the 
plot  against  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  Vvdio  were  in 
Servia.  Austrian  delegates  were  to  supervise  the  proceedings, 
and  SerATLa  was  also  to  arrest  certain  Servian  officials  whose 
guilt  was  alleged.  These  exorbitant  conditions  made  it  quite 
obvious  that  no  concessions  on  Servia 's  part  would  be  accepted. 
It  was  a  plain  prelude  to  war. 

Nevertheless,  a  virtual  acceptance  by  Servia  followed. 
Acting  on  the  advice  of  Russia,  Servia  acceded  to  all  that  was 
required  of  her,  making  only  two  reservations  of  the  most 
reasonable  character.  These  reservations  were  found  enough 
to  serve  as  an  excuse  for  war.  Austria  at  once  declared  herself 
dissatisfied  and  though  tlie  actual  declaration  of  war  wa& 

107 


108  HOW  WAR  WAS  DECLARED 

delayed  for  a  brief  period,  a  state  of  war  practically  existed 
between  the  two  countries  from  Saturday  evening,  July  25. 

EFFOKTS  TO  LOCALIZE  THE  WAR 

Then  began  efforts  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  localize 
the  Avar.  Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  able  foreign  secretary  in  Mr. 
Asquith's  cabinet,  repeated  solemn  warnings  in  every  chan- 
cellery of  Europe.  According  to  the  English  "white  book," 
the  very  day  that  he  was  notified  of  the  violent  tone  of  Aus- 
tria's note  to  Servia — the  day  it  was  presented — he  warned 
the  Austrian  Ambassador  in  London  that  if  as  many  as  four  of 
the  Great  Powers  of  Europe  were  to  engage  in  war,  it  would 
involve  the  expenditure  of  such  a  vast  sum  of  money  and  such 
interference  with  trade,  that  a  complete  collapse  of  European 
credit  and  industry  would  follow.  Tlie  reply  of  Russia  to  this 
warning  was  quite  conciliatory.  The  Russian  foreign  minister, 
M.  Sazonoff,  assured  the  British  minister  that  Russia  had  no 
aggressive  intentions,  and  would  take  no  action  unless  forced. 
Austria's  action,  M.  Sazonoff  added,  in  reality  aimed  at  over- 
throwing Russia 's  influence  in  the  Balkans. 

Thus,  on  Monday,  July  27,  Sir  Edward  Grey  was  able  to 
state  in  tlie  House  of  Commons  that  his  suggestion  of  a  joint 
conference,  composed  of  the  Ambassadors  of  Germany,  France 
and  Italy,  and  himself,  with  a  view  to  mediation  between  Aus- 
tria and  Russia,  had  been  accepted  by  all  except  Germany, 
which  power  had  expressed  its  concurrence  with  the  plan  in 
principle,  but  opposed  the  details  on  the  ground  that  there  was 
a  prospect  of  direct  ''conversations"  (diplomatic  exchanges) 
between  Austria  and  Russia.  This  statement  was  believed  in 
England  to  lack  sincerity.  On  that  Monday  afternoon  the  Rus- 
sian Ambassador  at  Vienna  warned  Austria  that  Russia  would 
not  give  way  and  expressed  his  hope  that  some  arrangement 
might  be  arrived  at  before  Servia  was  invaded. 

Austria's  reply  came  next  day  in  the  shape  of  a  formal  dec- 
laration of  war  against  Servia. 

Germany's  attitude  pro-austrian 
On  July  30  Sir  M.  de  Bunsen,  British  Ambassador  at 
Vienna,  made  the  following  statement  to  Sir  Edward  Grey 
regarding  the  attitude  of  Germany  in  the  crisis : 


HOW  WAR  WAS  DECLARED  109 

**  Although  I  am  not  able  to  verify  it,  I  have  private  infor- 
mation that  the  German  Ambassador  (at  Vienna)  knew  the 
(text  of  the  Austrian  ultimatum  to  Servia  before  it  was  dis- 
patched, and  telegraphed  it  to  the  German  Emperor.  I  know 
from  the  German  Ambassador  himself  that  he  endorses  every 
line  of  it. ' ' 

Naturally  enough  the  Russian  foreign  minister  complained 
that  ** conversations"  with  Austria  were  useless  in  the  face  of 
such  facts.  Russia  then  declared  that  her  forces  would  be 
mobilized  the  day  that  Austria  crossed  the  Servian  frontier. 
The  attitude  of  Germany  at  once  stiffened  and  it  became  evi- 
dent that  Germany  meant  to  regard  even  the  partial  mobiliza- 
tion of  Russia  as  a  ground  for  war,  not  only  against  Russia, 
hut  also  against  the  latter 's  ally,  France. 

In  vain  Russia  protested  that  her  partial  mobilization  was 
merely  a  precaution.  In  vain  did  the  Czar  himself  offer  to  give 
Ms  word  that  no  use  would  be  made  of  any  of  his  forces.  Ger- 
many was  aware,  as  subsequent  facts  have  proved,  that  her 
own  state  of  mobilization  was  very  much  further  advanced 
than  that  of  Russia. 

GERMAN  ULTIMATUM  TO  EUSSIA 

By  Friday,  July  31,  Germany  was  ready  for  the  fray  and 
a  final  ultimatum  to  St.  Petersburg  was  launched.  On  the  same 
day  Russia  declared  war  against  Austria.  By  six  o'clock  on 
Saturday  evening,  August  1,  war  between  Germany  and  Russia 
began,  when  Germany  dismissed  the  Russian  Ambassador,  and 
by  Sunday  morning  Germany  was  invading  France.  The  next 
day,  August  3,  the  German  Ambassador  left  Paris  and  the 
French  Ambassador  at  Berlin  was  ordered  to  demand  his 
passports. 

At  this  point  Great  Britain  passed  from  the  position  of 
general  peacemaker  to  that  of  a  principal.  In  the  House  of 
Commons  on  Monday,  August  3,  Sir  Edward  Grey  stated  that 
the  question  whether  Austria  or  Russia  should  dominate  the 
Southern  Slav  races  was  no  concern  of  England,  nor  was  she 
bound  by  any  secret  alliance  to  France.  She  was  absolutely 
free  to  choose  her  course  with  regard  to  the  crisis  which  had 
overtaken  her.   But  there  were  two  cardinal  points  in  the  situa- 


w  HOW  WAR  WAS  DECLARED 

tion  which  had  arisen  which  ultimately  concerned  Great  Brit- 
ain. The  first  essential  feature  of  British  diplomacy,  said  Sir 
Kdward,  was  that  France  should  not  be  brought  into  such  a 
condition  in  Europe  that  she  became  a  species  of  vassal  state 
to  Germany.  On  the  morning  of  July  31,  therefore,  he  had 
informed  the  German  Ambassador  that  if  the  efforts  to  main- 
tain peace  failed  and  France  became  involved  Great  Britain 
would  be  drawn  into  the  conflict. 

In  his  speech  of  August  3  the  British  foreign  minister  also 
stated  that  he  had  given  France  on  the  previous  day  the  writ- 
ten assurance  that  if  the  German  fleet  came  into  the  English 
Channel  or  through  the  North  Sea  to  assail  her,  the  British 
fleet  would  protect  her  to  the  uttermost. 

TO  PROTECT  BELGIAN  AUTONOMY 

On  the  same  afternoon,  in  the  same  place,  Sir  Edward  Grey 
reiterated  the  other  dominant  principle  of  British  foreign  pol- 
icy— that  England  can  never  look  with  indifference  on  the 
seizure  by  a  great  continental  power  of  any  portion  of  Belgium 
and  Holland.  More  than  a  hundred  years  ago  it  was  declared 
by  Napoleon,  who  was  a  master  of  pohtical  geography,  that 
Antwerp  was  *'a  pistol  leveled  at  the  head  of  London." ' 

When  on  July  31  the  British  foreign  minister  inquired  by 
telegraph  both  at  Paris  and  Berlin  whether  the  tv/o  govern- 
ments would  engage  to  respect  the  neutrality  of  Belgium, 
France  replied  with  an  assurance  that  she  was  resolved  to  do 
so  unless  compelled  to  act  otherwise  by  reason  of  the  violation 
of  Belgium's  neutrality  at  the  hands  of  another  power.  The 
German  secretary  of  state,  Kerr  von  Jagow,  replied  that  he 
could  give  no  such  assurance  until  he  had  consulted  the  Em- 
peror and  Chancellor,  and  doubted  whether  he  could  give  any 
answer  without  revealing  the  German  plan  of  campaign.  He 
furthermore  alleged  the  commission  of  hostile  acts  by  Belgium. 

Developments  quickly  followed.  The  German  government 
proposed  that  Belgium  should  grant  its  armies  free  passage 
through  Belgian  territory.  The  proposal  was  accompanied  by 
an  intimation  that  Belgium  would  be  crushed  out  of  existence 
if  it  refused  to  comply.    In  fact,  it  was  an  ultimatum  presented 


HOJV  WAR  WAS  DECLAIiED  Ui 

at  7  o'clock  on  Sunday  evening,  August  2,  to  expire  within 
twelve  hours. 

Then  came  Sir  Edward  Grey's  speech  in  parliament  on 
August  3,  w^hen  it  was  fully  realized  that  Germany  and  Eng- 
land were  on  the  verge  of  war.  What  followed  was  related  in 
the  House  of  Commons  next  day. 

SCENES  IN"   PAELIAMENT 

Germany's  reply  to  the  speech  by  Sir  Edward  Grey,  the 
British  foreign  secretary,  indicating  the  attitude  of  Great 
Britain  in  regard  to  the  contemplated  violation  of  Belgian 
territory  by  Germany  was  a  second  ultimatum  from  Berlin 
to  Brussels,  saying  Germany  was  prepared  to  carry  through 
her  plans  by  force  of  arms  if  necessary. 

The  British  government  was  officially  informed  by  Bel- 
gium on  August  4  that  German  troops  had  invaded  Belgium 
and  that  the  violation  of  that  country's  neutrality,  which  the 
British  foreign  secretary  had  intimated  must  be  followed  by 
action  on  the  part  of  the  British,  had  become  an  accomplished 
fact. 

Definite  announcement  of  Great  Britain's  intentions  under 
these  circumstances  was  expected  in  the  house  of  commons 
that  afternoon. 

TELEGEAM  SENT  TO  BEELIN 

On  the  assembly  of  the  house  the  premier,  Mr.  Asquith, 
said  that  a  telegram  had  been  sent  early  in  the  morning  to 
Sir  Edward  Goschen,  British  ambassador  in  Berlin,  to  the 
following  effect: 

''The  king  of  the  Belgians  has  appealed  to  His  Britannic 
Majesty's  government  for  diplomatic  intervention  on  behalf 
of  Belgium.  The  British  government  is  also  informed  that 
the  German  government  has  delivered  to  the  Belgian  govern- 
ment a  note  proposing  friendly  neutrality  pending  a  free 
passage  of  German  troops  through  Belgium  and  promising 
to  maintain  the  independence  and  integrity  of  the  kingdom 
and  its  possessions  on  the  conclusion  of  peace,  threatening  in 
case  of  refusal  to  treat  Belgium  as  an  enemy." 


lia  HO  IF  WAR  WAS  DECLARED 

Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  British  foreign  secretary,  had  re- 
quested an  answer  within  twelve  hours. 

Premier  Asquith  then  read  a  telegram  from  the  German 
foreign  minister,  which  the  German  ambassador  in  London 
had  sent  to  Sir  Edward  Grey.    It  was  as  follows : 

''Please  dispel  any  distrust  that  may  subsist  on  the  part 
of  the  British  government  with  regard  to  our  intentions  by 
repeating  most  positively  the  formal  assurance  that  even  in 
case  of  armed  conflict  with  Belgium,  Germany  will  under  no 
pretensions  whatever  annex  Belgian  territory." 

The  reading  of  this  telegram  was  greeted  with  derisive 
laughter  by  the  members  of  the  house. 

Premier  Asquith  continued : 

''We  understand  that  Belgium  categorically  refused  to 
assent  to  a  flagrant  violation  of  the  law  of  nations. 

"His  majesty's  government  was  bound  to  protest  against 
this  violation  of  a  treaty  to  which  Germany  was  a  party  in 
common  with  England  and  must  request  an  assurance  that 
the  demand  made  upon  Belgium  by  Germany  be  not  proceeded 
with  and  that  Belgium's  neutrality  be  respected  by  Germany 
and  we  have  asked  for  an  immediate  reply. 

"We  received  this  morning  from  our  minister  in  Brussels 
the  following  telegram: 

"  'The  German  minister  has  this  morning  addressed  a 
note  to  the  Belgian  minister  for  foreign  affairs  stating  that  as 
the  Belgian  government  has  declined  a  well  intentioned  pro- 
posal submitted  to  it  by  the  imperial  German  government 
the  latter,  deeply  to  its  regret,  mil  be  compelled  to  carry  out, 
if  necessary  by  force  of  arms,  the  measures  considered  indis- 
pensable in  view  of  the  French  menace.'  "" 


>> 


ENGLAND  AND  GERMANY  AT  WAB 

By  11  o'clock  that  evening  England  and  Germany  were  at 
war.  Their  respective  ambassadors  were  handed  their  pass- 
ports and  Great  Britain  braced  herself  for  a  conflict  that  was 
felt  to  theaten  her  very  existence  as  a  nation. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  INVASION  OF  BELGIUM 

Belgims  Mush  to  Defense  of  Their  Frontier — Towns  BomhoMed  and 
Burned — Defense   of   Liege — Fall    of   Liege — 

— Fall    of    Namur — Peasants    and    Totmispeople    Flee — 
Destruction  of  Louvain. 


AT  10  o'clock  on  the  night  of  August  2  German  troops 
crossed  the  Belgian  frontier,  coming  from  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  or  Aachen,  temporary  headquarters  of  the  gen- 
eral staff,  and  the  bloody  invasion  of  Belgium,  involving  the 
violation  of  its  neutral  treaty  rights,  began.  Simultaneously 
the  German  forces  entered  the  independent  duchy  of  Luxem- 
burg to  the  south,  en  route  to  the  French  border,  and  also 
came  in  touch  with  French  outposts  in  the  provinces  of  Alsace, 
and  Lorraine. 

The  events  that  followed  in  Belgium  furnished  a  genuine 
surprise  to  the  world.  Instead  of  finding  the  Belgian  people 
indifferent  to  the  violation  of  their  territory  and  the  Belgian 
army  only  a  slight  obstacle  in  the  road  to  Paris,  as  was  prob- 
ably expected  by  the  German  general  staff,  a  most  gallant  and 
determined  resistance  was  offered  to  the  progress  of  the  Ger- 
man hosts.  The  army  of  the  little  State  was  quickly  mobilized 
for  defense  and  its  operations,  while  ineffectual  in  stopping 
the  Kaiser's  irresistible  force,  delayed  its  advance  for  three 
invaluable  weeks,  giving  time  for  the  complete  mobilization  of 
the  French  and  for  the  landing  of  a  British  expeditionary  force 
to  co-operate  with  the  latter  in  resisting  the  German  approach 
to  Paris. 

Just  across  the  Belgian  border  lay  the  little  towns  of  Vise 
and  Verviers,  and  these  were  the  first  objects  of  German  at- 
tack and  Belgian  defense.  Both  were  occupied  after  desperate 
resistance  by  the  Belgians  and  Vise  was  partly  demolished  by 

113 


114 


INVASION  OF  BELGIUM 


fire  in  reprisal,  it  was  claimed,  for  the  firing  by  civilians  oa 
the  German  invaders.  The  subsequent  bombardment  and 
burning  of  towns  and  villages  by  the  Germans  were  explained 
in  every  case  as  measures  of  revenge  for  hostile  acts  on  the 
part  of  non-combatants  and  intended  to  prevent  their  occur- 
rence elsewhere  by  striking  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Bel- 
gian populace.  Whatever  the  pretext  or  the  excuse,  the  his- 
torical fact  remains  that  the  result  of  the  German  progress 


—From  the  literary  Dieest— Copyright,  1G14,  by  Punt  &  Waen&lb  Comi>any. 

EELGIUT.I— THE   FIRST   BATTLEFIELD   OF   THE   WAR 
The  map  shows  the  more  important  railroad  lines  connecting  the  cities  ot 
iirussels,   Antwerp  and   Namur   and   those   of  Northern   Franco.      Pans   is   200 
miles  by  rail  from  Brussels  and  190  from  Namur. 


INVASION  OF  BELGIUM  ^-^^ 

toward  the  Franco-Belgian  frontier  constituted  a  martyrdom 
for  Belgimn  and  gained  for  the  plucky  little  kingdom  the  full- 
est sympathy  of  the  civilized  world. 

THE  ATTACK  01^  LIEGE 

The  ancient  city  of  Liege  was  attacked  by  the  German 
artillery  on  August  4.  The  town  itself  was  occupied  five  days 
later,  but  the  modern  forts  surrounding  it  continued  for  some 
time  longer  to  hold  out  against  the  fierce  German  attack.  It 
became  necessary  to  bring  up  the  hea^/iest  modern  Krupp  siege 
guns  in  order  to  reduce  them. 

Amidst  all  the  plethora  of  events  which  crowded  them- 
selves into  the  first  few  days  following  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  none  was  more  remarkable  than  the  Belgian  stand  at 
Liege  against  the  German  advance. 

The  struggle  round  Liege  bids  fair  to  become  historic,  and 
the  garrisons  of  the  Liege  forts  when  they  looked  out  fear- 
lessly from  tne  banks  of  the  Meuse  on  the  vanguard  of  the 
German  host,  and  took  decision  to  block  its  further  progress, 
proved  their  claim  once  again  to  Julius  Csesar's  description  of 
their  ancestors,  "The  Belgians  are  the  bravest  of  the  Gauls." 

THE   FALL   OF   LIEGE 

New^s  of  the  fall  of  Liege  and  the  occupation  of  the  city 
by  German  troops  was  received  with  great  rejoicing  in 
Berlin  on  August  8th.  Dispatches  received  at  Amster- 
dam from  the  German  capital  said: 

The  news  of  the  fall  of  Liege  spread  with  lightning  rapidity 
throughout  Berlin  and  created  boundless  enthusiasm.  The 
Emperor  sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  announce  the  capture  of 
the  city  to  crowds  that  assembled  outside  the  palace. 

Policemen  on  bicycles  dashed  along  Unter  den  Linden  pro- 
claiming the  joyful  tidings.  Imperial  Chancellor  Bethmann- 
HoUweg  drove  to  the  castle  to  congratulate  the  Emperor  on 
the  victory  and  was  enthusiastically  cheered  along  the  way. 


PEASANTS  AND  TOWNSPEOPLE  FLEE 

Following  the  fall  of  Liege  came  a  number  of  sanguinary 
engagements  in  northern  Belgium;  the  unopposed  occupation 


116  INVASION  OF  BELGIUM 

of  Brussels  on  August  20,  and  a  four  days'  battle  beginning  on 
August  23,  in  which  the  Germans  forced  back  the  French  and 
British  allies  to  the  line  of  Noyon-LaFere  across  the  northern 
frontier  of  France.  In  the  northern  engagements  the  Belgians 
gave  a  good  account  of  themselves,  but  were  everywiiere  forced 
to  give  way  before  the  innumerable  hosts  of  the  Kaiser,  though 
not  without  inflicting  tremendous  losses  on  the  invaders. 

The  retirement  of  the  civilian  population  before  the  ad- 
vancing masses  of  the  German  army  was  a  pathetic  spectacle. 
It  was  a  flight  in  terror  and  distress. 

On  Tuesday,  August  18,  the  German  troops  surged  down 
upon  Tirlemont,  a  town  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Louvain, 
around  which  they  had  been  massing  for  some  days,  presum- 
ably by  rail  and  motor  cars.  The  stories  which  had  reached 
the  inhabitants  of  Tirlemont  of  the  happenings  at  surrounding 
towns  and  villages  had  not  added  to  their  peace  of  mind,  and 
soon  the  moment  for  flight  arrived.  All  kinds  of  civilians  set 
out  towards  Brussels  and  Ghent  for  refuge.  At  times  the  road 
was  full  of  carts  bearing  entire  families,  with  pots  and  pans 
swaying  and  banging  against  the  sides  as  the  vehicles  bumped 
over  the  roadway.  The  younger  women,  boys  and  menfolk 
who  had  been  left  in  the  towns  and  villages  fled  on  foot. 
Priests,  officials  and  Eed  Cross  helpers  mingled  with  the 
crowd.  This  stream  of  unfortunates  uprooted  from  their 
homes  was  thus  described  by  an  eyew^itness : 

"These  masses  of  broken-hearted  people  moved  silently 
along,  many  weeping,  few  talking.  With  them  they  brought 
a  few  of  their  possessions,  as  pathetically  miscellaneous  as 
the  effects  one  might  seize  in  the  panic  haste  of  a  hotel  fire. 
Ox  wagons,  bundles  and  babies  on  dog-drawn  carts  or  on  men 's 
backs,  bicycles  and  handcarts  laden  with  kitchen  utensils,  all 
mingled  with  the  human  stream.  Here  were  to  be  seen  sewing 
machines,  beds,  bedding,  food,  and  there  a  little  girl  or  boy 
with  some  toy  clasped  uncomprehendingly  in  a  dirty  hand; 
they  also  knew  that  danger  threatened  and  that  they  must 
save  what  they  held  most  dear.  And  even  among  these  un- 
happy people  there  were  some  more  unfortunate  than  the 
others — men  and  women  who  had  no  bundle,  children  who 
had  no  doll.     All  the  way  to  Louvain  there  flowed  this  human 


INVASION  OF  BELGIUM  HT 

stream  of  misery.  Back  along  the  Tirlemont  road  rifle  firing 
could  be  heard  and  entrenchments  were  to  be  seen  in  the  town 
itself." 

These  scenes  between  Tirlemont  and  Louvain  were  typical 
of  those  on  every  road  leading  to  the  larger  cities  of  Belgium 
as  the  inhabitants  fled  before  the  approach  of  the  dreaded 
Uhlans. 

FAIili  OF  NAMUR 

On  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  August  23,  the  fortress  of 
Namur  was  evacuated  by  the  Belgians,  and  the  town  was  later 
occupied  by  the  Germans. 

The  fortress  was  said  to  be  as  strong  as  Liege  and  it  owed 
its  importance  in  the  present  war  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
apex  of  the  two  French  flanks.  One  ran  from  Namur  to 
Charleroi  and  the  other  by  Givet  to  Mezieres. 

Warned  by  their  experiences  at  Liege,  the  Germans  made 
most  determined  efforts  against  Namur.  From  the  north, 
south  and  east  they  were  able  to  bring  up  their  big  guns 
unhindered,  and  by  assaults  at  Charleroi  and  Dinant  they 
endeavored  to  break  the  sides  of  the  French  triangle.  Namur 
finally  collapsed  but  clever  strategy  enabled  the  French  to  fall 
back  upon  their  main  lines. 

The  fall  of  Namur,  nevertheless,  was  a  decided  blow  to  the 
allies.  This  was  admitted  by  the  French  minister  of  war, 
who  said  at  midnight  Monday,  August  24,  of  the  failure  of  the 
^' Namur  triangle": 

'^It  is,  of  course,  regrettable  that  owing  to  difficulties  of 
execution  which  could  not  have  been  foreseen  our  plan  of 
attack  has  not  achieved  its  object.  Had  it  done  so  it  w^ould 
have  shortened  the  war,  but  in  any  case  our  defense  remains 
intact  in  the  face  of  an  already  weakened  enemy.  Our  losses 
are  severe.  It  will  be  premature  to  estimate  them  or  to 
estimate  those  of  the  German  army,  which,  however,  has 
suffered  so  severely  as  to  be  compelled  to  halt  in  its  counter- 
attack and  establish  itself  in  new  positions." 

The  object  of  the  French  triangle,  having  its  apex  at 
Namur,  was  to  break  the  German  army  in  two.  The  British 
troops,  as  related  in  another  chapter,  were  cooperating  with 
the  French  at  Mens. 


iin  INVASION  OF  BELGIUM 

Wlien  the  Belgians  evacuated  Namur  the  Germans  had 
knocked  to  pieces  three  of  the  forts  to  the  northeast  of  the 
town  with  howitzer  fire.  Between  these  forts  they  advanced 
and  bombarded  the  town,  which  was  defended  by  the  Belgian 
Fourth  Division.  Namur  was  evacuated  when  the  defenders 
found  themselves  unable  to  support  a  heavy  artillery  fire. 

The  Germans  attacked  in  a  formation  three  ranks  deep, 
the  front  rank  lying  down,  the  second  kneeling,  and  the  third 
standing.  They  afforded  a  target  which  was  fully  used  by 
the  men  behind  the  Belgian  machine  guns.  Some  fifty  or  sixty 
howitzers  were  brought  into  action  by  the  Germans,  who 
concentrated  several  guns  simultaneously  on  each  fort  and 
smothered  it  with  fire. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  LOUVAIN 

At  this  stage  of  the  w^ar  in  Belgium  an  event  occurred  that 
riveted  universal  attention  upon  the  German  operations.  On 
Tuesday,  August  25,  the  beautiful,  historic,  scholastic  city  of 
Louvain,  containing  42,000  inhabitants,  was  bombarded  by  the 
Germans  and  later  put  to  the  torch.  The  fire,  which  burned 
for  several  days,  devastated  the  city.  Many  artistic  and 
historical  treasures,  including  the  priceless  library  of  Louvain 
University  and  several  magnificent  churches,  centuries  old, 
were  totally  destroyed.  Only  the  Hotel  de  Ville  (City  Hall), 
one  of  the  finest  examples  of  Gothic  architecture  in  Europe, 
was  spared  and  left  standing  in  the  midst  of  ruins. 

The  Eotterdam  Telegraf,  a  neutral  newspaper,  declared 
that  in  the  devastation  of  Louvain  ''a  wound  that  can  never 
be  healed ' '  was  inflicted  ' '  on  the  whole  of  civilized  humanity. ' ' 
Frank  Jewett  Mather,  the  well-known  American  art  critic, 
bitterly  denounced  the  act  as  one  of  wanton  destruction,  saying 
that  Louvain  ''contained  more  beautiful  works  of  art  than  the 
Prussian  nation  has  produced  in  its  entire  history. ' ' 

Thus  when  the  first  month  of  war  ended,  the  Germans  had 
made  good  with  their  plan  of  seizing  Belgium  as  a  base  of 
operations  against  France  and  had  arrived  in  full  force  at 
the  first  line  of  French  defenses,  well  on  the  way  to  the 
2oveted  goal,  Paris. 

But  poor  little  Belgium,  the  ''cockpit  of  Europe,'*  ran 
^ed  with  blood. 


SURRENDER  OF  BRUSSELS 

Belgian  Capital  Occupied  hy  the  Germans  Without  Blood- 
shed— Important  Part  Played  by  American  Minister 
Brand  WliitlGch—Belgian  Forces  Retreat  to  Antiverp 
—  Dinant   and   Termonde  Fall. 


AFTER  the  usual  reconnoissances  by  Uhlans  and  motor- 
cycle scouts,  the  van  of  the  German  army  arrived  at 
Brussels,  the  capital  city  of  Belgium,  on  August  20. 
The  seat  of  government  had  been  removed  three  days  before 
to  Antwerp.  The  French  and  Russian  ministers  also  moved 
to  Antvv^erp,  leaving  the  affairs  of  their  respective  countries 
in  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  legation.  Brand  Whitlock,  United 
States  minister  to  Belgium,  remained  at  Brussels  and  played 
an  important  part  in  negotiations  which  led  to  the  unresisted 
occupation  and  march  through  the  city  by  the  Germans  in 
force  on  August  21  and  the  consequent  escape  of  Brussels 
from  bombardment  and  probable  ruin. 

At  the  approach  of  the  German  army  the  inhabitants  of 
the  capital  were  stricken  with  fear  of  the  outcome.  When  the 
Belgian  civic  guards  and  refugees  began  pouring  into  the  city 
from  the  direction  of  Louvain,  they  brought  stories  of  un- 
speakable German  atrocities,  maltreatment  of  old  men  and 
children,  and  the  violation  of  women. 

"The  Belgian  capital  reeled  with  apprehension,"  said  an 
American  resident.  "Within  an  hour  the  gaiety,  the  vivacity, 
and  brilliancy  of  the  city  went  out  like  a  broken  arclight.  The 
radiance  of  the  cafes  was  exchanged  for  darkness ;  whispering 
groups  of  residents  broke  up  hurriedly  and  locked  themselves 
into  their  homes,  where  they  put  up  the  shutters  and  drew 
in  their  tricolored  Belgian  flags. 

119 


no  SUREENDER  OF  BRUSSELS 

*'The  historic  Belgian  city  went  throngli  a  state  of  morbid 
consternation,  remarkably  like  that  from  which  it  suffered  on 
June  18, 1815,  when  it  trembled  with  the  fear  of  a  French  vic- 
tory at  Waterloo. 

''In  less  than  twenty-four  hours  the  Belgian  citizens  were 
chatting  comfortably  with  the  German  invaders  and  the  alle- 
gations of  German  brutality  and  demoniacal  torture  dissolved 
into  one  of  the  myths  which  have  accompanied  all  wars. 

''Neither  in  Brussels  nor  in  its  environs  was  a  single  of- 
fensive act,  so  far  as  I  know,  committed  by  a  German  soldier. 
In  a  city  of  over  half  a  million  people,  invaded  by  a  hostile 
army  of  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  million  soldiers,  no  act,  suf- 
ficiently flagrant  to  demand  punishment  or  to  awaken  protest 
came  to  my  attention. ' ' 

SUEKENDEB  OF  CITY  DEMANDED 

Prior  to  the  occupation  the  German  commander  had  sent 
forward  a  flag  of  truce  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  city. 
This  was  at  midnight  of  Wednesday,  August  19.  The  Belgian 
commandant  replied  that  he  was  bound  in  honor  to  defend 
the  town. 

Brand  Whitlock,  the  United  States  minister,  then  came  to 
the  fore.  He  recommended  to  the  commandant  and  to  Burgo- 
master Max  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the  city,  pointing 
out  how  resistance  might  bring  increased  misfortune  on  the 
citizens.  But  the  military  commander  remained  adamant  until 
orders  arrived  from  King  Albert  consenting  to  the  surrender 
of  the  city. 

Mi.  Whitlock  was  later  congratulated  officially  by  the  king 
for  his  action.  Undoubtedly  he  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
saving  Brussels. 

HISTORIC   TREASURES  OF  BRUSSELS 

The  city  of  Brussels,  thus  occupied  by  the  Germans,  con- 
tains art  treasures  that  are  priceless.  The  museum  and  pub- 
lic galleries  are  filled  with  masterpieces  of  the  Flemish  and 
old  Dutch  school,  while  the  royal  library  comprises  600,000 
volumes,  100,000  manuscripts  and  50,000  rare  coins.  Unques- 
tionably the  Brussels  Museum  is  one  of  the  most  complete  on 
the  Continent. 


SUEEENDER  OF  BRUSSELS  in 

A  prominent  historic  landmark  of  Brussels  is  the  King's 
House  (also  called  the  Dreadhouse),  an  ancient  structure,  re- 
cently renovated.  Within  its  walls  both  the  Counts  Egmont 
and  Hoorn  spent  the  last  night  before  their  execution,  in  1567, 
by  the  hirelings  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  the  Spanish  Philip  II 's 
tyrannical  governor  of  the  Netherlands,  who,  by  means  of  the 
sword  and  the  Inquisition,  sought  to  establish  the  Catholic 
religion  in  those  countries.  Brussels  boasts  another  historic 
relic  known  the  world  over — the  equestrian  statue  of  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon,  who  led  the  Crusaders  to  the  Holy  Land.  It 
stands  upon  the  Place  Eoyale,  and  was  unveiled  in  1848. 

The  magnificent  Town  Hall  of  Brussels  would  probably 
have  suffered  destruction,  together  with  the  city 's  other  beau- 
tiful buildings,  had  not  the  government  yielded  without  a 
strugglec 

HEAVY  WAR  TAX  LEVIED 

General  von  der  Goltz,  appointed  by  the  Kaiser  military 
governor  of  Belgium,  levied  a  war  tax  of  $40,000,000  on  the 
capture  of  the  capital.  Other  cities  occupied  by  the  Germans 
were  also  assessed  for  large  sums,  which  in  several  instances 
had  to  be  paid  immediately  on  pain  of  bombardjnent.  It  was 
announced  September  1  that  the  four  richest  men  in  Belgium 
had  guaranteed  the  payment  to  Germany  of  the  war  tax.  The 
four  men  were  Ernest  Solvay,  the  alkali  king;  Baron  Lam- 
bert, the  Belgian  representative  of  the  Eothschilds;  Eaoul 
Warocque,  the  mine  owner,  and  Baron  Empain,  the  railway 
magnate. 

BELGIANS  EETEEAT  TO  ANTWERP 

After  the  German  occupation  almost  normal  conditions 
were  soon  restored  in  Brussels,  so  far  as  civic  life  was  con- 
cerned. It  was  speedily  announced  that  the  Germans  intended 
to  regard  the  whole  of  Belgium  as  a  German  province  and  to 
administer  it  as  such,  at  least  during  the  continuance  of  the 
war.  The  Belgian  army  retired  to  the  north  within  the  forti- 
fications of  Antwerp,  where  they  were  joined  by  French 
troops,  but  desultory  fighting  against  the  German  invader 
continued  at  many  points  and  the  Franco-British  allies  soon 
came  into   contact  with  the  advancing  German  army,, 


122 


SURNENDER  OF  BRUSSELS 


THE  CITY  AND   PORT  OF   ANTWERP 

Antwerp  is  one  of  the  largest,  most  modernly  equipped  and 
efficient  ports  in  Europe.  It  is  only  a  short  distance  across 
the  English  Channel,  and  is  the  head  of  1,200  miles  of  canals 
in  Belgium  which  connect  with  the  canal  systems  of  Holland, 
France  and  Germ.any.  On  the  harbor  alone  over  $100,000,000 
has  been  spent  and  extensions  are  in  progress  which  will  cost 
$15,000,000  more. 

For  the  prosperity  of  Belgium,  Antwerp  is  many  times 
more  important  than  Brussels,  the  capital.  "While  the  country 
has  an  enormous  amount  of  coal  and  many  factories  and  other 
industries,  these  would  be  of  little  value  without  the  imports 
which  enter  through  Antwerp. 

The  city  has  about  360,000  inhabitants.  Although  located 
fifty-three  miles  inland  on  the  Scheldt  River,  it  has  natural 
advantages  for  harbor  purposes  which  have  been  recognized 
since  the  seventh  century.  Napoleon  looked  over  the  spot  and 
started  large  harbor  construction. 


ANTWERP  AND   ITS   FORTIFICATIONS 


SURRENDER  OF  BRUSSELS  ri.l 

Ever  since  that  time,  according  to  popular  belief,  Antwerp 
has  encouraged  commerce.  Over  eighty  different  steamboat 
lines  use  the  docks  and  quays.  The  passenger  lines  include 
boats  to  New  York  and  Boston,  New  Orleans,  London,  Liv- 
erpool, Manchester,  Grimsby,  South  American  ports,  Cuba, 
the  Congo,  East  and  South  Africa  and  the  far  East. 

In  1912  a  total  of  G,973  ocean-going  vessels  entered  the 
port,  and  41,000  other  vessels. 

Antwerp  in  1870  ranked  fifth  in  the  ports  of  the  world. 
Today  it  is  believed  to  be  second  or  third.  Ten  years  ago  the 
freight  received  from  the  inland  was  principally  by  the  canals. 
Approximately  2,300,000  tons  were  received  by  rail  and  5,500,- 
000  tons  by  canal  boats. 

This  ratio  has  not  been  maintained,  but  the  canal  traffic 
now  is  much  larger  than  the  rail  tonnage.  This  gives  an  idea 
of  the  extensive  use  to  which  the  European  countries  put  their 
canals,  and  the  reader  may  guess  the  value  of  the  city  at  the 
head  of  the  canal  system  to  the  Germans. 


BLOODLESS    CAPITULATION    OF    GHEl'TT 

Historic  Ghent,  with  its  quarter  of  a  million  inhabitants, 
was  also  surrendered  peaceably  to  the  Germans,  and  again 
the  energy  and  initiative  of  an  American,  United  States  Vice- 
Consul  J.  A.  Van  Hee,  had  much  to  do  with  the  avoidance  of 
tragedy  and  destruction. 

Learning  that  the  advance  guard  of  the  German  army  was 
only  a  few  miles  outside  the  city,  the  burgomaster  went  out 
on  the  morning  of  September  8  to  parley  with  Gen.  von 
Boehn — in  the  hope  of  arranging  for  the  German  forces  not 
to  enter.  An  agreement  finally  was  reached  whereby  the  Ger- 
mans should  go  around  Ghent  on  condition  that  all  Belgian 
troops  should  evacuate  the  city,  the  ci\^c  guard  be  disarmed, 
their  weapons  surrendered,  and  the  municipal  authorities 
should  supply  the  Germans  with  specified  quantities  of  pro- 
visions and  other  supplies. 

The  burgomaster  was  not  back  an  hour  when  a  motor  car 
driven  by  two  armed  German  soldiers  appeared  in  the  streets. 

At  almost  the  same  moment  that  the  German  car  entered 


114  SURRENDER  OF  BRUSSELS 

the  city  from  the  south  a  Belgian  armored  car^  armed  with  a 
machine  gun,  mth  a  crew  of  three  men,  entered  from  the  east 
on  a  scouting  expedition. 

The  two  cars,  both  speeding,  encountered  each  other  at 
the  head  of  the  Rue  Agneau,  directly  in  front  of  the  American 
consulate.  Vice-consul  Van  Hee,  standing  in  the  doorway, 
was  an  eyewitness  to  what  followed. 

The  Germans,  taken  completely  by  surprise  at  the  sight  of 
the  foe's  grim  war  car  in  its  coat  of  elephant  gray,  bearing 
down  upon  them,  attempted  to  escape,  firing  with  their  car- 
bines as  they  fled.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  side- 
walks were  lined  with  onlookers,  the  Belgians  opened  on  the 
fleeing  Germans  ^T.th  their  machine  guns,  w^hich  spurted  lead 
as  a  garden  hose  spurts  water. 

The  driver,  fearing  the  Germans  might  escape,  swerved 
his  powerful  car  against  the  German  motor  precisely  as  a 
polo  player  ^' rides  oif  "  his  opponent.  The  machine  gim  never 
ceased  its  angry  snarl. 

The  Germans  surrendered,  both  being  wounded. 

Appreciating  that  Ghent  stood  in  imminent  danger  of 
meeting  the  terrible  fate  of  its  sister  cities,  Aerschot  and 
Louvain,  sacked  and  burned  for  far  less  cause,  Mr.  Van  Hee 
hurriedly  found  the  burgomaster  and  urged  him  to  go  along 
instantly  to  German  headquarters. 

They  found  General  von  Boehn  and  his  staff  at  a  chateau 
a  few  miles  outside  the  city.  The  German  commander  at 
flrst  was  furious  with  anger  and  threatened  Ghent  with  the 
same  punishment  he  had  meted  out  to  the  other  places  where 
Germans  were  fired  on.  Van  Hee  took  a  very  firm  stand, 
however.  He  told  the  general  the  burning  of  Ghent  would  do 
more  than  anything  else  to  lose  the  Germans  all  American 
sjTiipathy.  He  reminded  him  that  Americans  have  a  great 
sentimental  interest  in  Ghent  because  the  treaty  of  peace  be- 
tween England  and  the  United  States  was  signed  there  just  a 
century  ago. 

The  general  finally  said :  ''If  you  will  give  me  your  word 
that  there  will  be  no  further  attacks  upon  Germans  in  Ghent, 
and  that  the  wounded  soldiers  wdll  be  taken  under  American 
protection  and  returned  to  Brussels  by  the  consular  authori- 


SUBRENDER  OF  BRUSSELS  l«5 


a 


ties  wlien  they  have  recovered,  I  will  agree  to  spare  Ghent  and 
will  not  even  demand  a  money  indemnity. ' ' 

The  news  that  Mr.  Van  Hee  had  succeeded  in  his  mission 
spread  through  the  city  like  fire  in  dry  grass  and  when  he  re- 
turned he  was  acclaimed  by  cheering  crowds  as  the  saviour  of 
Ghent. 

THE  BUKGOMASTEE's  APPE^yij 

Blazoned  on  the  front  of  the  Town  Hall  suddenly  ap- 
peared a  great  black-lettered  document.  It  was  a  manly  and 
inspiring  proclamation  by  the  burgomaster,  similar  to  the 
splendid  proclamation  issued  by  M.  Adolphe  Max,  burgomas- 
ter of  Brussels,  just  before  the  German  entry.  He  assured  the 
inhabitants  that  he  and  all  the  town  officials  w^ere  remaining 
in  their  places,  and  that  so  long  as  life  and  liberty  remained 
to  him  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to  protect  their  honor 
and  their  interests.  He  reminded  them  that  under  the  laws  of 
war  they  had  the  right  to  refuse  ail  information  and  help  to 
the  invaders;  and  called  upon  each  citizen,  or  his  wife,  to 
refuse  such  information  and  help.  Finally,  he  urged  the  citi- 
zens to  remain  calm,  and  stay  in  their  homes. 

^'Vive  la  Belgique!  Vive  Ghent!"  The  proclamation 
ended  in  great  capitals  with  this  patriotic  cry. 

DINANT   AND   TEBMONDE   FALL 

But  other  cities  and  towns  of  Belgium  were  not  as  for- 
tunate as  Brussels  and  Ghent  in  escaping  damage  and  de- 
struction. 

Dinant,  a  town  of  8,000  inhabitants,  fifteen  miles  south  of 
Namur,  and  dating  back  to  the  sixth  century,  was  partially 
destroyed  by  the  Germans  in  their  advance  on  September  3 
and  4.  Early  reports  stated  that  a  number  of  the  most  promi- 
nent citizens  had  been  executed,  including  Mr.  Humbert, 
owner  of  a  large  factory,  who  was  slain  in  the  presence  of  his 
vnte  and  children. 

The  Germans  alleged  that  citizens  had  fired  on  them  from 
the  heights  about  the  city.  They  then  drove  all  of  the  inhabi- 
tants out,  shot  some  of  the  men  as  examples,  took  the  gold 
from  the  branch  of  the  National  Bank  and  burned  the  business 
section. 


126  SUERENDEli  OF  BRUSSELS 

On  September  4  the  town  of  Termonde  met  a  similar  fate. 
This  town,  16  miles  from  Ghent,  was  fired  in  several  places 
before  the  Kaiser's  troops  passed  on.  They  also  blew  up  a 
bridge  over  the  River  Escaut  to  the  north,  seeming  to  re- 
nounce for  the  moment  their  intrusion  into  the  country  of  the 
Waes  district.  Afterward  they  directed  an  attack  against  the 
southwest  front  position  of  the  Antwerp  army  and  were  re- 
pulsed with  great  losses. 

Describing  the  burning  of  Termonde  by  the  Germans,  a 
Ghent  correspondent  said : 

"By  midday  Sunday  the  blaze  had  assumed  gigantic  pro- 
portions and  by  Sunday  evening  not  a  house  stood  upright. 
This  was  verified  at  Zele,  where  there  were  thousands  of  refu- 
gees from  Termonde.  The  Germans  also  pillaged  Zele.  The 
suburb  of  St.  Giles  also  suffered  from  bombardment  and  fire." 

A  courier  who  knew  Termonde  as  a  flourishing  town  mth 
fine  shops,  an  ancient  town  hall  of  singular  beauty  and  a  num- 
ber of  churches  of  historic  interest,  found  the  place  on  Sep- 
tember 11  a  smoldering  ruin,  except  for  the  town  hall  and  one 
church,  on  a  stone  of  which  he  saw  the  inscription  "1311." 
These  two  structures  w^ere  left  intact,  without  so  much  as  a 
broken  window. 

Termonde  was  burned  for  much  the  same  reason  as  Lou- 
vain.  On  September  4  a  German  force  came  back  from  the 
field  after  having  been  severely  handled  by  the  Belgians,  and 
the  German  commander,  it  is  said,  exclaimed : 

"  It  is  our  duty  to  burn  them  down ! ' ' 

The  inhabitants  were  given  two  hours'  grace,  and  German 
soldiers  filed  through  the  town,  breaking  windows  with  their 
rifles.  They  were  followed  by  other  files  of  troops,  who 
sprayed  kerosene  into  the  houses,  others  applied  lighted  fuses 
and  the  town  was  systematically  destroyed. 

BOMBARDMENT  OF  MALINES 

On  Thursday  night,  August  27,  the  German  artillery  bom- 
barded the  ancient  Belgian  town  of  Malines.  During  the  bom- 
bardment many  of  the  monuments  in  the  town  were  hit  by 
shells  and  destroyed.  When  the  artiller^^  had  ceased  firing 
the  inhabitants  of  Malines  were  advised  to  leave  the  town. 


CHAPTER  Vin 

BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  ARMY 

Earl  Kitchener  Appointed  Secretary  for  War — A  New  Volun- 
teer A.rmy — Expeditionary  Force  Landed  in  France — 
Field  Marshal  Sir  John  French  in  Command — Colonies 
Rally  to  Britain's  Aid — The  Canadian  Contingent — 
Indian  Troops  Called  For — Native  Princes  Offer  Aid. 

FTER  the  declaration  of  war  by  Great  Britain  against 
Germany  on  August  4,  the  first  important  development 
in  England  was  the  appointment  of  Earl  Kitchener  of 
Ivhartoum  as  secretary  of  state  for  war.  This  portfolio  had  been 
previously  held  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  H.  H.  Asquith,  premier  and  first 
lord  of  the  treasury.  Lord  Kitchener  being  the  idol  of  the 
British  army  and  most  highly  esteemed  by  the  nation  gen- 
erally for  his  powers  of  organization  and  administration,  as 
well  as  for  his  military  fame,  the  appointment  increased  the 
confidence  of  the  British  people  in  the  Liberal  Government  and 
awakened  their  enthusiasm  for  war.  Parliament  unanimously 
passed  a  vote  of  credit  for  $500,000,000  on  August  6. 

Lord  Kitchener  immediately  realized  the  serious  nature  of 
the  task  confronting  his  country  as  an  ally  of  France  against 
the  military  power  of  Germany.  His  first  step  was  to  increase 
the  regular  army.  The  first  call  was  for  100,000  additional 
men.  This  was  soon  increased  to  500,000.  Within  a  month 
there  were  439,000  voluntary  enlistments  and  then  a  further 
call  was  made  for  500,000  more,  bringing  the  strength  of  the 
British  army  up  to  1,854,000  men,  a  figure  unprecedented  for 
Great  Britain. 

The  war  fever  grew  apace  in  England.  All  classes  of  so- 
ciety furnished  their  quota  to  the  colors  for  service  in  Belgium 
and  France.  The  period  of  enlistment  was  ''for  the  war"  and 
a  wave  of  patriotic  fervor  swept  over  the  British  Isles  and  over 

127 


128  BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  ARMY 

all  the  colonies  of  Britain  beyond  the  seas.  Political  differ- 
ences were  forgotten  and  the  empire  presented  a  united  front, 
as  never  before.  If  Germany  had  counted  on  internal  dissen- 
sion keeping  England  out  of  the  fray,  the  expectation  proved 
unfounded.  Englishmen,  Irishmen  and  Scotsmen  stood  shoul- 
der to  shoulder.  The  Irish  Home  Rule  controversy  was 
dropped  by  common  consent.  The  men  of  Ulster  and  the  Irish 
Nationalists  struck  hands  and  agreed  to  forget  their  differ- 
ences in  the  presence  of  national  danger. 


Trade  resumed  normal  conditions  and  the  Bank 
of  England  rate,  which  earlier  in  the  week  had  mounted  to  10 
per  cent,  was  reduced  on  August  8  to  5  per  cent. 

There  were  some  panicky  conditions  and  a  disquieting  col- 
lapse on  the  London  Stock  Exchange  during  the  last  days  of 
feverish  diplomacy,  and  it  was  due  to  the  financial  solidity  of 
the  British  nation,  no  less  than  to  its  level-headedness  and  the 
promptness  of  government  measures,  that  the  declaration  of 
war,  instead  of  precipitating  worse  conditions,  cleared  the 
atmosphere. 

BEITISH  TEOOPS  LAND  IN  FRANCE 

Wliile  the  British  army  was  being  mobilized,  the  utmost 
secrecy  was  observed  regarding  all  movements  of  troops.  The 
newspapers  refrained  from  publishing  even  the  little  they  knew 
and  an  expeditionary  force,  composed  of  the  flower  of  the  Brit- 
ish army  and  numbering  approximately  94,000  men  of  all  arms 
of  the  service,  was  assembled,  transported  across  the  Eng- 
lish Channel  and  landed  at  Boulogne  and  other  French  ports 
behind  a  veil  of  deepest  mystery,  so  far  as  the  British  public 
and  the  world  at  large  were  concerned. 

The  old  town  of  Plymouth,  on  the  Channel,  was  the  chief 
port  of  embarkation  for  the  troops  and  the  main  concentration 
point  in  England,  but  troops  embarked  also  at  Dublin,  Ireland; 
Liverpool ;  Eastbourne ;  Southampton,  and  other  cities.  Not  a 
mention  of  the  midnight  sailings  of  transports  carrying  troops, 
horses,  automobiles,  artillery,  hospital  and  commissary  equip- 
ment and  supplies  was  allowed  to  be  printed  in  the  newspapers, 


BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  ARMY 


129 


nor  was  it  known  how  many  troops  were  being  sent  across  the 
Channel. 

The  landing  in  France  was  effected  between  the  10th  and 
the  20th  of  August  without  the  loss  of  a  single  man,  and  on  the 
23d,  having  joined  forces  with  the  French  army  under  General 
Joffre,  commander-in-chief,  the  British  found  themselves  in 
touch  with  the  German  enemy  at  Mons  in  Belgium. 

FIELD-MAESHAL,  FRENCH  IN   COMMAND 

The  expeditionary  force  was  in  supreme  command  of  Field 
Marshal  Sir  John  D.  P.  French,  a  veteran  officer  of  high  mili- 
tary repute,  with  Maj.-Gen.  Sir  A.  Murray  as  chief  of  staff. 
Other  noted  officers  were  Lieut.-Gen.  Sir  Douglas  Haig,  com- 
mander of  the  First  Corps ;  Lieut.-Gen.  Sir  James  Grierson, 
commander  of  the  Second  Corps ;  Maj.-Gen.  W.  P.  Pulteney, 
commander  of  the  Third  Corps,  and  Maj.-Gen.  Edmund  Al- 
lenby,  in  command  of  the  Cavalry  Division.  The  home  army 
was  left  in  command  of  Gen.  Sir  Ian  Hamilton. 

Hardly  had  the  expedition  landed  in  France  when  the  death 
was  reported  of  the  commander  of  the  Second  Corps,  Sir 
James  Grierson,  who  succumbed  to  heart  disease  vv^hiie  on  his 
way  to  the  front,  dropping  dead  on  a  train.  He  was  given  a 
notable  military  funeral  in  London.  Gen.  Sir  H.  L.  Smith-Dor- 
rien  was  appointed  to  succeed  him  in  command  of  the  Second 
Corps. 

The  British  troops  were  received  in  France  with  loud  ac- 
claim and  Field  Marshal  French,  on  visiting  Paris  for  a  confer- 
ence at  the  French  war  office  before  proceeding  to  the  front,  was 
greeted  by  a  popular  demonstration  that  showed  how  welcome 
British  aid  was  to  the  French  in  their  critical  hour. 

The  British  field  force  was  composed  of  three  army  corps, 
each  com|5rising  two  divisions,  and  there  was  also  an  extra 
cavalry  division. 

Each  army  corps  consists  of  twentyrf our  infantry  battalions 
of  about  one  thousand  men  each  on  a  war  footing ;  six  cavalry 
regiments,  eight  batteries  of  horse  artillery  of  six  guns  each, 
eighteen  batteries  of  field  artillery,  two  howitzer  batteries,  and 
troops  of  engineers,  signal  corps,  army  service  corps  and  other 
details. 


130  BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  ARMY 

The  number  of  men  in  each  army  corps  was  therefore  ap- 
proximately as  follows : 

Infantry  24,000 

Cavalry 3,600 

Horse  artillery 800 

Field  artillery 1,800 

Howitzer  batteries 250 

Signal,  army  service,  commissary,  etc 900 

Tims  the  first  British  field  force  landed  in  France  aggre- 
gated about  94,000  men,  including  the  extra  cavalry  division. 
These  were  added  to  almost  daily  during  the  following  weeks, 
until  by  September  20  the  British  had  probably  200,000  men 
co-operating  with  the  French  army  north  and  east  of  Paris. 


COLONIES  RALLY  TO  BRITAIN 

At  the  prospect  of  war  with  Germany  the  dominions  of  the 
British  Empire  overseas  eagerly  offered  their  aid.  Canada, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  India,  all  came  forward  with  offers 
of  men,  money,  ships  and  supplies.  The  Australian  premier 
issued  a  statement  to  the  people  in  which  he  said:  "We  owe  it 
to  those  who  have  gone  before  to  preserve  the  great  fabric  of 
British  freedom  and  hand  it  on  to  our  children.  Our  duty  is 
quite  clear.    Remember  we  are  Britons." 

CANADA  OFFERS  MEN 

A  formal  offer  of  military  contingents  was  cabled  to 
England  by  the  Canadian  government  August  1.  A  meeting 
of  tlie  cabinet  was  presided  over  by  Premier  Borden.  It  was 
tailed  to  deal  with  the  situation  in  which  Canada  found  her- 
self as  the  result  of  the  European  war. 

The  government  unanimously  decided  to  make  England 
an  offer  of  men.  Infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery  would  be 
included  in  any  force  sent  forward  and  it  would  number 
20,000  men  if  transportation  could  be  obtained  for  that 
number.  It  was  estimated  that  within  two  weeks  it  would 
be  possible  to  dispatch  10,000  efficient  soldiers,  and  within 
three  months  this  number  could  be  increased  to  50,000. 

Many  offers  for  foreign  service  arrived  from  the  com- 
mandants of  militia  corps  throughout  the  dominion. 


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Ahox-c — Remarkable  photograph  of  a  flanie-throwins  attack  by  French  troops. 
The  "flammenwerfer"  or  flame-thrower  was  originated  liy  the  Germans,  like  other 
diabolical  methods  of  warfare.  The  .-Mlie.'!  perfected  the  machine  and  turned  it  on  the 
enemy  with  great  .success,  and  the  Germans  did  not  like  their  own  medicine.  Note  the 
reservoir  on  the  soldier's  back.    tCoiiprifiht.  U.  <(■  U.) 

Brlon- — .\  Belgian  scouting  part>-  in  P^Ianders,  making  its  way  over  a  pontoon 
bridge,  and  dressed  in  the  new  khaki  uniform  of  the  Belgian  army,  which  turned  the 
tables  on  the  Hun.    (Photo,  U.  d  U.) 


CHARGE  OF  THE3  BRITISH  9TH  LAKCEKS  ON  A  GERMAN  BATTERY  DURING  THE 

BATTLE    OF    MONS 

The  battery  had  Inflicted  heavy  losses  on  the  British  troops.  All  the  gunners  were  cut 
down  and  the  iruns  put  out  of  action. — Drawn  by  Dudley  Tennant  for  The  Graphic,  from 
Dotei  by  a  trooper. 


BRITAIN  RAISES  'AN  ARMY  i»3 

In  all  40,000  Canadian  troops  were  tendered  to  and  accepted 
by  the  British  Government  in  the  early  days  of  the  war ;  also 
20,000  men  from  Australia  and  8,000  from  New  Zealand,  a  total 
of  68,000  men. 

By  the  request  of  the  Dominions  in  each  case,  the  cost  of 
the  equipment,  maintenance  and  pay  of  the  forces  was  defrayed 
by  the  three  governments — in  itself  a  generous  and  patriotic 
additional  offer.  The  Dominions  at  the  same  time  declared 
their  readiness  to  send  additional  contingents  if  required,  as 
well  as  drafts  from  time  to  time  to  maintain  their  field  forces 
at  full  strength. 

TROOPSHIPS  SAIL  UNDER  CONVOY 

The  first  intimation  that  Canadian  troops  had  been  dis- 
patched to  the  front  from  Valcartier  Camp  came  on  Septem- 
ber 24,  when  the  Hon.  T.  W.  Crothers,  the  Dominion  minister 
of  labor,  announced  in  a  speech  before  the  Canadian  Trades 
and  Labor  Congress,  assembled  in  convention  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick,  that  32,000  Canadian  volunteers  ''left  for  the  front 
a  day  or  two  ago."  It  was  understood  that  the  troops  had 
sailed  from  Quebec  in  twenty  armed  transports,  convoyed  by 
a  fleet  of  British  warships,  which  had  been  collected  at  con- 
venient ports  for  the  purpose. 

There  were  two  army  divisions  in  the  force  that  sailed,  each 
comprising  three  brigades  of  infantry  (12,000  men),  27  guns, 
500  cavalry,  and  2,000  staff,  signallers,  medical  corps  and 
supemumaries. 

THE  FINAL  REVIEW  AT  VALCARTIER 

Before  they  sailed  away  the  Canadian  army  marched  past 
the  reviewing  stand  at  the  Valcartier  Camp,  Quebec,  under  the 
eyes  of  10,000  civilians.  There  were  32,000  soldiers  equipped 
for  active  service  and  everyone  was  impressed  with  the  serious 
scene. 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Connaught,  the  Princess  Patri- 
cia, Col.  Sam  Hughes,  the  Canadian  minister  of  militia,  and 
Col.  V.  H.  C.  Williams,  commandant  of  the  camp,  looked  on 
with  pride  as  the  great  parade,  almost  a  full  army  corps, 
passed  the  royal  standard.  They  marched  in  column  of  half 
battalions,  and  took  a  full  hour  to  go  by. 


132  BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  'AR3IY 

Officers  commanding  the  four  infantry  brigades:  Lieut- 
Col.  R.  E.  W.  Turner,  V.  C,  D.  S.  0.,  of  Quebec,  a  veteran  of 
the  South  African  war,  mentioned  in  dispatches  for  especially 
gallant  service ;  Lieut.-CoL  S.  M.  Mercer,  Toronto,  Command- 
ing Officer  of  the  Queen 'p  Own  Rifles;  Lieut.-Col.  A.  W.  Cur- 
rie  of  Victoria,  Commanding  Officer  of  the  50th  Fusihers; 
Lieut.-Col.  J.  E.  Cohoe  of  St.  Catharines,  Commanding  Offi- 
cer of  the  5th  Militia  Infantry  Brigade. 

The  officer  appointed  to  command  the  artillery  brigade 
was  Lieut.-Col.  H.  E.  Burstall  of  Quebec,  of  the  Artillery 
Headquarters  Staff. 

Officer  in  command  of  the  Strathcona  Horse,  Lieut.-Col. 
A.  C.  Macdonnell,  D.  S.  0.,  of  Winnipeg,  a  South  African 
veteran. 

Officer  in  command  of  the  Royal  Canadian  Dragoons, 
Lieut.-Col.  C.  M.  Nelles  of  Toronto,  Inspector  of  Cavalry  for 
Militia  Headquarters. 

The  commanding  officer  of  the  whole  army  division  was  an 
English  general  selected  by  the  British  War  Office. 

It  was  understood  that  the  Canadian  troops  would  land 
in  the  south  of  England  and  march  through  London  to  train- 
ing quarters  at  Aldershot  and  Salisbury  Plains,  the  infantry 
going  to  Aldershot  and  the  artillery  to  Salisbury  Plains,  for 
several  weeks'  training  under  active  service  conditions  before 
going  to  the  firing  line. 

CANADA   FIGHTS   AGAINST   AUTOCKACY 

**  Canada  will  spend  its  last  dollar  and  shed  its  last  drop 
of  blood  fighting  for  the  principle  of  democracy,  against  that 
of  autocracy,  as  exemplified  in  the  present  European  conflict." 

This  was  the  emphatic  statement  made  by  Sir  Douglas 
Cameron,  lieutenant-governor — chief  executive — of  the  prov- 
ince of  Manitoba,  passing  through  Chicago  on  September  28. 

** Great  Britain  is  not  fighting  for  empire,"  he  said.  **It 
is  not  fighting  for  greater  commercial  gains.  We  are  fighting 
for  the  annihilation  of  autocracy  and  it  is  the  sentiment  of 
the  people  of  Canada  that  they  will  fight  against  Germany's 
domination  to  the  bitter  end. 

** England  does  not  want  more  commerce,  except  as  it  can 
be  gained  through  the  paths  of  peace.    We  would  not  draw 


BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  ARMY.  133 

tHe  sword  to  increase  it,  but  we  will  fight  to  the  last  drop 
of  blood  to  protect  it. 

**The  men  of  Canada  have  responded  nobly  to  the  call  to 
arms.  We  have  sent  about  31,800  provincial  troops,  every 
one  a  volunteer,  and  we  have  that  many  more  already  enlisted 
if  they  are  needed.  Our  trouble  is  to  equip  them  as  fast  as 
they  enlist. 

**In  Canada  we  are  turning  our  attention  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  Wheat  is  at  a  premium;  a  farmer  can  get  from 
$1  to  $1.10  per  bushel  in  cash  for  wheat  on  his  wagon.  All 
Europe  will  be  in  dire  need  of  foodstuffs  next  year  and  for 
some  years  to  come  and  we  in  Canada  hope  to  profit  by  the 
opportunity. 

''Economic  conditions  in  the  dominion  received  a  terrible 
blow  when  the  war  came;  we  were  shocked,  staggered,  and 
business  has  received  a  hard  setback ;  finances  are  depressed. 
The  government  has  offered  help  to  the  banks,  but  they  do 
not  need  it  yet. 

"We  want  immigrants  in  our  country— Germans  or  any 
other  good,  strong,  virile  nationality.  We  have  no  quarrel 
with  the  German  people.  We  like  them;  they  are  used  to  a 
high  standard  of  living  and  are  the  finest  kind  of  citizens. 

' '  To  my  mind,  this  war  cannot  be  of  long  duration.  Ger- 
many, with  all  its  preparedness,  could  not  lay  by  stores  enough 
to  support  65,000,000  people  for  any  great  length  of  time 
when  there  is  no  raw  material  coming  in.  The  country  will 
be  starved  out,  if  not  beaten  in  the  field,  for  I  do  not  believe 
Germany  can  gain  control  of  the  high  seas  and  cover  the  world 
with  its  merchantmen." 


INDIAN  TROOPS  CALLED  FOR 

The  announcement  by  Lord  Kitchener  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons late  in  August  that  native  troops  from  India  were  to  be 
summoned  to  the  aid  of  the  British  army  in  France  "came  like 
a  crash  of  thunder  and  revealed  a  grim  determination  to  fight 
the  struggle  out  to  a  successful  finish." 

There  was  some  talk  in  England  of  increasing  the  army  by 
temporary  conscription,  but  Premier  Asquith  declined  to  con- 
sider any  such  proposal. 

In  the  House  of  Commons  on  September  9  a  message  was 


134  BRITAIN  RAISES  'AN  AR3IY 

read  from  the  Viceroy  of  India,  which  said  that  the  rulers  of 
the  Indian  native  states,  nearly  700  in  number,  had  with  one 
accord  rallied  to  the  defense  of  the  empire  with  personal  offers 
of  services  as  well  as  the  resources  of  their  states. 

Many  of  the  native  rulers  of  India  also  sent  cables  to  King 
George  offering  him  their  entire  military  and  financial  re- 
sources, while  the  people  of  India  by  thousands  offered  to 
volunteer. 

Conditions  in  India  were  indeed  so  satisfactory,  from  the 
British  standpomt,  that  Premier  Asquith  was  able  to  announce 
that  two  divisions  (40,000)  of  British  (white)  soldiers  were  to 
be  removed  from  India. 

The  aid  that  India  could  offer  was  not  lightly  to  be  consid- 
ered. The  soldiery  retained  by  the  British  and  the  rajahs,  con- 
stituting India's  standing  army,  amount  to  about  400,000,  not 
taking  into  consideration  the  reserves  and  the  volunteers.  The 
rajahs  maintain  about  23,000  soldiers,  who  are  named  Imperial 
Service  Troops,  expressly  for  purposes  of  Imperial  defense, 
and  these  have  served  in  many  wars.  They  served  with  British, 
German,  French,  and  United  States  troops  in  China  from  Sep- 
tember, 1900,  to  August,  1901,  and  gained  the  highest  laurels 
for  efficiency  and  good  conduct. 

The  first  Indian  troops  called  for  by  Lord  Kitchener  in- 
cluded two  divisions  of  infantry  and  a  brigade  of  cavalry,  add- 
ing about  70,000  combatants  to  the  allied  armies  in  France, 
with  approximately  130  pieces  of  artillery,  both  light  and 
heavy,  and  howitzers. 

Twelve  Indian  potentates  were  selected  to  accompany  this 
expeditionary  force.  These  included  the  veteran  Sir  Pertab 
Singh,  regend  of  Jodhpur;  Sir  Ganga  Bahadur,  Maharajah  of 
Bikanir,  and  Sir  Bhupindra  Singh,  Maharajah  of  Patiala. 

The  expeditionary  force  contained  units  of  the  regular 
army  and  contingents  of  the  Imperial  Service  Troops  in  India. 
From  twelve  states  the  viceroy  accepted  contingents  of  cavalry, 
infantry,  sappers  and  transport,  besides  a  camel  corps  from 
Bikanir. 

The  Maharajah  of  Mysore  placed  $1,600,000  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Government  in  connection  with  the  expenditure 
for  the  expeditionary  force.  In  addition  to  this  gift,  the  Ma- 
harajahs  of  Gwalior  and  BhoDal  contributed  larire  sums  of 


BRITAIN  RAISES  "AN  ARMY  135 

money  and  provided  thousands  of  horses  as  remounts.  Ma- 
harajah Repa  offered  his  troops  and  treasure,  even  his  pri- 
vately-owned jewelry,  for  the  service  of  the  British  King  and 
Emperor  of  India.  Maharajah  Holkar  of  Indore  made  a  gift 
of  all  the  horses  in  the  army  of  his  state. 

A  similar  desire  to  help  the  British  Government  was  shown 
by  coromittees  representing  religious,  political,  and  social  asso- 
ciations of  all  classes  and  creeds  in  India. 

In  the  House  of  Lords  on  August  28  Earl  Kitchener  an- 
nounced that  the  first  division  of  the  troops  from  India  was 
already  on  the  way  to  the  front  in  France.  At  the  same  time 
the  Marquis  of  Crewe,  secretary  of  state  for  India,  said:  *'It 
has  been  deeply  impressed  upon  us  by  what  we  have  heard 
from  India  that  the  wonderful  wave  of  enthusiasm  and  loyalty 
now  passing  over  that  country  is  to  a  great  extent  based  upon 
the  desire  of  the  Indian  people  that  Indian  soldiers  should 
stand  side  by  side  with  their  comrades  of  the  British  army  in 
repelling  the  invasion  of  our  friends'  territory  and  the  attack 
made  upon  Belgium.  We  shall  find  our  army  there  reinforced 
by  native  Indian  soldiers — high-souled  men  of  first-rate  train- 
ing and  representing  an  ancient  civilization ;  and  we  feel  certain 
that  if  they  are  called  upon  they  will  give  the  best  possible 
account  of  themselves  side  by  side  with  our  British  troops  in 
encountering  the  enemy. ' ' 

KING  GEORGE  PRAISES  COLONIES 

On  September  9  a  message  from  King  George  to  thp  British 
colonies,  thanking  them  for  their  aid  in  Britain's  emergency, 
was  published  as  follows : 

''During  the  last  few  weeks  the  peoples  of  my  whole  empire 
at  home  and  overseas  have  moved  with  one  mind  and  purpose 
to  confront  and  overthrow  an  unparalleled  assault  upon  the 
continuity  of  civilization  and  the  peace  of  mankind. 

"The  calamitous  conflict  is  not  of  my  seeking.  My  voice 
has  been  cast  throughout  on  the  side  of  peace.  My  ministers 
earnestly  strove  to  allay  the  causes  of  the  strife  and  to  appease 
differences  with  which  my  empire  was  not  concerned.  Had  I 
stood  aside  when  in  defiance  of  pledges  to  which  my  kingdom 
was  a  party,  the  soil  of  Belgium  was  violated  and  her  cities 
made  desolate,  when  the  very  life  of  the  French  nation  was 


136  BRITAIN  RAISES  AN  ARMY 

threatened  with  extinction,  I  should  have  sacrificed  my  honor 
and  given  to  destruction  the  liberties  of  my  empire  and  of 
mankind. 

**I  rejoice  that  every  part  of  the  empire  is  with  me  in  this 
decision. 

* '  Paramount  regard  for  a  treaty  of  faith  and  the  pledged 
word  of  rulers  and  peoples  is  the  common  heritage  of  Great 
Britain  and  of  the  empire.  My  peoples  in  the  self-governing 
dominions  have  shown  beyond  all  doubt  that  they  whole-heart- 
edly indorse  the  grave  decision  it  was  necessary  to  take,  and 
I  am  proud  to  be  able  to  show  to  the  world  that  my  peoples 
oversea  are  as  determined  as  the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom 
to  prosecute  a  just  cause  to  a  successful  end. 

* '  The  Dominion  of  Canada,  the  Commonwealth  of  Australia 
and  the  Dominion  of  New  Zealand  have  placed  at  my  disposal 
their  naval  forces,  which  have  already  rendered  good  service 
for  the  empire.  Strong  expeditionary  forces  are  being  pre- 
pared in  Canada,  Australia  and  New  Zealand  for  service  at 
the  front,  and  the  Union  of  South  Africa  has  released  all  Brit- 
ish troops  and  undertaken  other  important  military  responsi- 
bilities. 

**  Newfoundland  has  doubled  the  number  of  its  branch  of 
the  royal  naval  reserve,  and  is  sending  a  body  of  men  to  take 
part  in  the  operations  at  the  front.  From  the  Dominion  and 
Provincial  governments  of  Canada,  large  and  welcome  gifts 
of  supplies  are  on  their  way  for  use  both  by  my  naval  and  mili- 
tary forces. 

*'A11  parts  of  my  oversea  dominions  have  thus  demon- 
strated in  the  most  unmistakable  manner  the  fundamental 
unity  of  the  empire  amidst  all  its  diversity  of  situation  and 
circumstance. ' ' 

A  message  similar  to  the  foregoing  was  addressed  by  King 
George  to  the  princes  and  the  people  of  India. 

The  King's  eldest  son,  the  young  Prince  of  Wales,  volun- 
teered for  active  service  at  the  outset  of  the  war  and  was 
gazetted  as  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  First  Battalion,  Grena- 
dier Guards.  He  also  inaugurated  and  acted  as  treasurer  of 
a  national  fund  for  the  relief  of  sufferers  by  the  war.  This 
fund  soon  grew  to  $10,000,000  and  steadily  climbed  beyond  that 
amount. 


CHAPTER  IX 

EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

Belgian  Resistance  to  the  German  Advance — The  Fighting 
at  Vise,  Haelen,  Biest,  Aerschot  and  Tirlemont — Mons 
and  Charleroi  the  First  Great  Battles  of  the  War — 
Allies  Make  a  Gallant  Stand,  hut  Forced  to  Retire 
Across  the  French  Border, 

FROM  the  first  day  of  the  German  entry  into  Belgium  brief 
and  hazy  reports  of  battles  between  the  patriotic  Belgians 
and  the  invaders  came  across  the  Atlantic.  Many  absurd 
and  mischievous  reports  of  repeated  Belgian  ** victories'* 
were  received  throughout  the  month  of  August.  These  were 
for  the  most  part  rendered  ridiculous  by  the  steady  advance 
of  the  German  troops.  The  resistance  of  the  Belgians  was 
gallant  and  persistent,  but  availed  only  to  hinder  and  delay 
the  German  advance  which  it  was  powerless  to  stop.  Up  to 
August  23,  there  were  no  ''victories"  possible  for  either  side, 
because  never  until  then  were  the  opposing  armies  definitely 
pitted  against  each  other  in  an  engagement  in  which  one  or 
the  other  must  be  broken. 

All  the  time  these  Belgian  ** victories,"  which  were  no 
more  than  resistances  to  German  reconnoissances,  were  being 
reported,  the  German  line  was  not  touched,  and  behind  that 
line  the  Germans  were  methodically  massing. 

When  they  were  ready  they  came  on.  The  Belgian  army 
retired  from  the  Diest-Tirlemont  line,  from  Aerschot  and 
Louvain,  from  Brussels,  because  to  have  held  these  positions 
against  the  overwhelming  force  opposed  to  them  would  have 
meant  certain  destruction.    The  rearguards  held  each  of  these 

137 


138         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

points  witli  the  greatest  heroism  so  long  as  that  was  neces- 
sary, and  then  retired  in  good  order  on  the  main  force. 

VISE  ATTACKED  AND  FIKED 

The  first  fighting  of  any  severity  in  Belgium  occurred 
at  Vise,  near  the  frontier,  early  in  the  German  advance.  Ger- 
man troops  crossed  the  frontier  in  motors,  followed  by  large 
bodies  of  cavalry,  but  the  Belgians  put  up  a  stubborn  resist- 
ance. The  chiefs  of  the  Belgian  staff  had  foreseen  the  inva- 
sion and  had  blown  up  the  bridges  of  the  River  Meuse  outside 
the  toTvm,  as  well  as  the  railway  tunnels.  Time  after  time 
the  Belgians  foiled  with  their  heavy  fire  the  attempts  of  the 
Germans  to  cross  by  means  of  pontoons.  Vise  itself  was 
stubbornly  defended.  Only  after  a  protracted  struggle  did 
the  Germans  master  the  town,  which  they  fired  in  several 
places  on  entering. 

BATTLES  OF  HAELEN-DIEST 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week  of  the  Belgian  invasion  it  was 
estimated  that  the  Germans  had  concentrated  most  of  their 
field  troops,  probably  about  900,000  combatants,  along  a  75- 
mile  line  running  from  Liege  to  the  entrance  into  Luxemburg 
at  Treves.  With  this  immense  army  it  was  said  there  were  no 
less  than  5,894  pieces  of  artillery.  This  was  only  the  first-line 
strength  of  the  Germans,  the  reserves  being  massed  in  the 
rear.  Part  of  the  right  wing  was  swung  northward  and 
westward  in  the  direction  of  Antw^erp,  and  swept  the  whole 
of  northern  Belgium  to  the  Dutch  frontier. 

On  August  10  the  Belgian  defenders  fought  a  heavy  en- 
gagement with  the  Germans  at  Haelen,  which  was  described 
in  the  dispatches  as  the  first  battle  of  the  war.  A  Belgian 
victory  was  claimed  as  the  result,  the  German  losses,  it  was 
said,  being  very  heavy,  especially  in  cavalry,  while  the  Bel- 
gian casualties  were  reported  relatively  small.  But  the  Ger- 
man advance  was  merely  checked.  The  covering  troops  were 
speedily  reinforced  from  the  main  body  of  the  army  and  the 
advance  swept  on. 

The  result  of  the  Haelen  engagement  was  thus  described 
in  the  dispatches  of  August  13 : 

*^The  battle  centered    around    Haelen,    in    the    Belgian 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         139 

province  of  Limbonrg,  extending  to  Diest,  in  the  north  of  the 
province  of  Brabant,  after  passing  round  Zeelhem. 

**At  7  o'clock  last  evening  all  the  country  between  the 
three  towns  mentioned  had  been  cleared  of  German  troops, 
except  the  dead  and  wounded,  who  were  thickly  strewn  about 
the  fire  zone.  Upward  of  200  dead  German  soldiers  were 
counted  in  a  space  of  fifty  yards  square. 

*'A  church,  a  brewery  and  some  houses  in  Haelen  were 
set  afire,  and  two  bridges  over  the  Demer  were  destroyed  by 
Belgian  engineers. 

'*  Great  quantities  of  booty  were  collected  on  the  battle- 
field, and  this  has  been  stacked  in  front  of  the  town  hall  of 
Diest.    Many  horses  also  were  captured. 

**The  strength  of  the  German  column  was  about  5,000 
men. ' ' 

Another  report  said  of  the  encounter : 

"A  division  of  Belgian  cavalry,  supported  by  a  brigade 
of  infantry  and  by  artillery,  engaged  and  defeated,  near  the 
fortress  of  Diest,  eighteen  miles  northeast  of  Louvain,  a  divi- 
sion of  German  cavalry,  also  supported  by  infantry  and  by 
artillery. 

''The  fighting  was  extremely  fierce  and  resulted  in  the 
Germans  being  thrown  back  toward  Hasselt  and  St.  Trond.'^ 

Meanwhile  the  forts  at  Liege,  to  the  southeast,  still  held 
out,  though  fiercely  bombarded  by  German  siege  guns.  The 
fortress  of  Namur  was  also  being  attacked.  The  Germans 
had  bridged  the  river  Meuse  and  were  moving  their  crack 
artillery  against  the  Belgian  lines.  French  troops  had  joined 
the  Belgian  defenders  and  the  main  battle  line  extended  from 
Liege  on  the  north  to  Metz  on  the  south. 

A  visit  to  Haelen  and  other  towns  by  a  Brussels  corre- 
spondent August  17, ' '  showed  the  frightful  devastation  which 
the  Germans  perpetrated  in  Belgian  territory. 

"For  instance,  at  Haelen  itself  houses  belonging  to  the 
townspeople  have  been  completely  wrecked.  Windows  were 
broken,  furniture  destroyed,  and  the  walls  demolished  by 
shell  fire.  Even  the  churches  have  not  been  respected.  The 
parish  church  at  Haelen  has  been  damaged  considerably  from 
shrapnel  fire. 


140         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

**0n  the  battlefield  there  are  many  graves  of  Gernians 
marked  by  German  lances  erected  in  the  form  of  a  cross." 

ON   THE  BATTLEFIELD   OF  DIEST 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune  said : 

'*  Across  the  battlefield  of  Diest  there  is  a  brown  stretch 
of  harrowed  ground  half  a  furlong  in  length.  It  is  the  grave 
of  twelve  hundred  Germans  who  fell  in  the  fight  of  August 
11.  All  over  the  field  there  are  other  graves,  some  of  Ger- 
mans, some  of  Belgians,  some  of  horses.  When  I  reached 
the  place  peasants  with  long  mattocks  and  spades  were  turn- 
ing in  the  soil.  For  two  full  days  they  had  been  at  the  work 
of  burial  and  they  were  sick  at  heart.  Their  corn  is  ripe  for 
cutting  in  the  battlefield,  but  little  of  it  will  be  harvested. 
Dark  paths  in  their  turnip  fields  are  sodden  wdth  the  blood 
of  meii  and  horses." 

The  Belgians,  in  contempt  of  German  markmanship,  had 
forced  the  enemy  to  the  attack,  which  had  been  made  from 
three  points  of  the  field  simultaneously.  The  fighting  had  been 
fierce,  but  now  that  both  sides  had  swept  on,  no  one  seemed 
to  know  how  those  in  the  fight  had  really  fared.  Only  by 
the  heaps  of  dead  could  one  make  estimate : 

*'At  least,  there  were  most  dead  on  the  side  toward  the 
bridge.  A  charge  of  300  Uhlans,  who  were  held  in  check  for 
a  short  time  by  seventeen  Belgians  at  a  corner,  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  come  near  success.  The  derelict  helmets  and 
lances  that  covered  the  fields  show  that  the  charge  pressed 
w^ell  up  to  the  guns  and  to  the  trenches  in  the  turnip  fields 
where  the  Belgian  soldiers  lay.  On  the  German  left  mitrail- 
leuses got  in  their  work  behind,  and  in  the  houses  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  villages.  Five  of  these  houses  were  burned  to 
the  ground,  and  two  others  farther  out  broken  all  to  pieces 
and  burned.  In  a  shed  was  a  peasant  weeping  over  the  dead 
bodies  of  his  cows. 

*'It  would  be  easy  now  at  the  beginning  of  this  war  to 
write  of  its  tragedy.  The  villages  have  each  a  tale  of  loss  to 
tell.  All  of  the  twelve  hundred  men  in  the  long  grave  were 
men  with  wives,  sweethearts,  and  parents.  All  the  Belgian 
soldiers  and  others  who  were  buried  where  they  fell  have 
mourners. 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         14.1 

A  LETTER  FROM  THE  GRAVE 

"A  letter  wliicli  I  picked  up  on  the  field  and  am  endeavor- 
ing to  have  identified  and  sent  her  for  whom  it  is  intended 
will  speak  for  all.  It  is  written  in  ink  on  half  a  sheet  of  thin 
notepaper.  ^There  is  no  date  and  no  place.  It  probably 
was  written  on  the  eve  of  battle  in  the  hope  that  it  would  reach 
its  destination  if  the  writer  died.    This  is  the  translation : 

**  *  Sweetheart:  Fate  in  this  present  war  has  treated  us 
more  cruelly  than  many  others.  If  I  have  not  lived  to  create 
for  you  the  happiness  of  which  both  our  hearts  dreamed, 
remember  my  sole  wish  now  is  that  you  should  be  happy.  For- 
get me  and  create  for  yourself  some  happy  home  that  may  re- 
store to  you  some  of  the  greater  pleasures  of  life.  For  myself, 
I  shall  have  died  happy  in  the  thought  of  your  love.  My 
last  thought  has  been  for  you  and  for  those  I  leave  at  home. 
Accept  this,  the  last  kiss  from  him  who  loved  you.* 

*' Postcards  from  fathers  with  blessings  to  their  gallant 
sons  I  found,  too,  on  the  field,  little  mementos  of  people  and 
of  places  carried  by  men  as  mascots.  Everywhere  were 
broken  lances  of  German  and  Belgian,  side  by  side ;  scabbards 
and  helmets,  saddles  and  guns.  These  the  peasants  were  col- 
lecting in  a  pile,  to  be  removed  by  the  military.  High  up  over 
the  graves  of  twelve  hundred,  as  we  stood  there,  a  German 
biplane  came  and  went,  hovering  like  a  carrion  crow,  seeking 
other  victims  for  death. 

* '  In  the  village  itself  death  is  still  busy.  A  wounded  Ger- 
man died  as  we  stood  by  his  side  and  a  Belgian  soldier  placed 
his  handkerchief  over  his  face.  Soldiers  who  filled  the  lit- 
tle market-place  may  be  fighting  for  life  now  as  I  write.  The 
enemy  is  in  force  not  a  mile  away  from  them,  and  in  a  moment 
they  may  be  attacked.  It  is  significant  that  all  German 
prisoners  believed  they  were  in  France.  The  deception,  it 
appears,  was  necessary  to  encourage  them  in  their  attack^ 
and  twelve  hundred  dead  in  the  harrowed  field  died  without 
knowing  whom  or  what  they  were  fighting.'* 

THOUGHT  THEY  WERE  IN  ERAKCE 

A  number  of  German  prisoners  were  taken  by  the  Belgians 
during  the  fighting  at   Haelen-Diest.     From    these   it    was 


142        EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

learned  that  the  German  soldiers  really  believed  they  were 
fighting  in  France.  At  Die^t  it  is  said  that  400  surrendered 
the  moment  they  lost  their  officers  and  were  surprised  to  learn 
that  they  were  in  Belgium. 

King  Albert  of  Belgium  was  constantly  in  the  field  dur- 
ing the  early  engagements  of  the  war,  moving  from  point  to 
point  inside  the  Belgian  lines  by  means  of  a  high-powered 
automobile,  in  which  he  was  slightly  wounded  by  the  explosion 
of  a  shell.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  keep  in  touch  with  the 
field  forces,  as  well  as  with  his  general  staff,  and  speedily 
endeared  himself  to  the  Belgian  soldiery  by  his  personal  dis- 
regard of  danger. 

The  Belgians  by  their  gallant  fight  against  the  trained 
legions  of  Germany  quickly  won  the  admiration  even  of  their 
foes.  The  army  of  Belgium  was  brought  up  to  its  full  strength 
of  300,000  men  and  everywhere  the  soldiers  of  the  little  coun- 
try battled  to  halt  the  invaders.  Often  their  efforts  proved 
effective.  The  losses  on  both  sides  were  truly  appalling,  the 
Germans  suffering  most  on  account  of  their  open  methods  of 
attack  in  close  order.  But  their  forces  were  like  the  sands 
of  the  sea  and  every  gap  in  the  ranks  of  the  onrushing  host 
was  promptly  filled  by  more  Germans. 

TIELEMONT  AND  LOUVAIN 

The  fighting  at  Tirlemont  and  Louvain  was  described  by 
a  citizen  of  Ostend,  who  says  he  witnessed  it  from  a  church 
tower  at  Tirlemont  first  and  later  proceeded  to  Louvain.  He 
says: 

''Until  luncheon  time  Tuesday,  August  18,  Tirlemont  was 
quiet  and  normal.  Suddenly,  about  1  o  'clock,  came  the  sound 
of  the  first  German  gun.    The  artillery  had  opened  fire. 

''From  the  church  tower  it  was  possible  to  see  distinctly 
the  position  of  the  German  guns  and  the  bursting  of  their 
shells.  The  Belgians  replied  from  their  positions  east  of 
Louvain.  It  was  a  striking  sight,  to  the  accompaniment  of 
the  ceaseless  thud-thud  of  bursting  shells  with  their  puffs 
of  cottonlike  smoke,  tearing  up  the  peaceful  wheat  fields  not 
far  away. 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         143 

BELGIANS   EETIBE   AT   LOUVAIN 

**GradnaIly  working  nearer,  the  shells  began  to  strike  the 
houses  in  Tirlemont.  This  was  a  signal  for  the  populace, 
which  had  been  confident  that  the  Belgian  army  would  pro- 
tect them,  to  flee.  All  they  knew  was  that  the  Germans  were 
coming.  From  the  tower  the  scene  was  like  the  rushing  of 
rats  from  a  disturbed  nest.  The  people  fled  in  every  direc- 
tion except  one. 

'*!  moved  down  to  Louvain,  where  everything  seemed  quiet 
and  peaceful.  The  people  sat  in  the  cafes  drinking  their 
evening  beer  and  smoking.  Meanwhile  the  Belgian  troops 
were  retiring  in  good  order  toward  Louvain. 

TOWN   IN  PANIC   WITH  REFUGEES 

**By  midnight  the  town  was  in  the  throes  of  a  panic. 
Long  before  midnight  throngs  of  refugees  had  begun  to  ar- 
rive, followed  later  by  soldiers.  By  11  o'clock  the  Belgian 
rear  guard  was  engaging  the  enemy  at  the  railroad  bridge 
at  the  entrance  to  the  town. 

"The  firing  was  heavy.  The  wounded  began  to  come  in. 
Riderless  horses  came  along,  both  German  and  Belgian.  These 
were  caught  and  mounted  by  civilians  glad  to  have  so  rapid 
a  mode  of  escape. 

TROOPS  HINDERED  BY  CIVILIANS 

**I  remember  watching  a  black  clad  Belgian  woman  run- 
ning straight  down  the  middle  of  a  road  away  from  the 
Germans.  Behind  her  came  the  retiring  Belgian  troops,  dis- 
heartened but  valiant.  This  woman,  clad  in  mourning,  was 
the  symbol  of  the  Belgian  populace. 

**At  some  of  the  barricades  along  the  route  the  refugees 
and  soldiers  arrived  simultaneously,  making  the  defense  dif- 
ficult. All  about  Tirlemont  and  Lotivain  the  refugees  inter- 
fered with  the  work  of  the  troops.  The  road  to  Brussels 
always  was  crowded  with  refugees  and  many  sorrowful  sights 
were  witnessed  among  them  as  they  fled  from  the  homes  that 
had  been  peaceful  and  prosperous  a  few  days  before. 


lU         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

BRUSSELS  FILLED  WITH  EEFUGEES 

** Brussels  is  filled  with  refugees  from  surrounding  towns, 
despite  the  large  numbers  who  left  the  city  for  Ghent  and 
Ostend  during  the  last  few  days,"  said  a  correspondent, 
writing  from  Ghent  on  August  20. 

''The  plight  of  most  of  the  refugees  is  pitiable.  Many 
are  camped  in  the  public  square  whose  homes  in  the  suburbs 
have  been  fired  by  the  Prussians.  The  r#ads  leading  into 
Brussels  have  been  crowded  all  day  with  all  kinds  of  con- 
veyances, many  drawn  by  dogs  and  others  by  girls,  women 
and  aged  peasants. 

"Most  of  these  people  have  lost  everything.  Few  of  them 
have  any  money.  The  peasant  is  considered  lucky  who  suc- 
ceeded in  saving  a  single  horse  or  a  cow. 

"Military  men  characterize  the  German  force  which  is 
mo\dng  across  Belgium  as  overwhelming,  saying  it  consists 
of  at  least  two  or  three  army  corps.  The  advance  of  this 
huge  force  is  covered  over  the  entire  thirty-mile  front  by  a 
screen  of  cavalry.  The  Germans  had  no  difficulty  in  taking 
Louvain,  which  was  virtually  undefended. 

"In  the  high  wooded  country  between  Louvain  and  Brus- 
sels the  Germans  found  an  excellent  defensive  position.  Hav- 
ing occupied  Louvain,  the  Kaiser's  troops  pushed  forward 
with  great  celerity,  the  cavalry  opening  out  in  fan-shaped 
formation,  spreading  across  country. 

"At  one  point  they  ran  into  a  strong  force  of  Belgian 
artillery,  which  punished  them  severely.  Later  in  the  day 
a  Belgian  scouting  force  reached  Louvain  and  found  it  unoc- 
cupied, but  received  imperative  orders  to  fall  back,  because 
of  the  danger  of  being  outflanked  and  annihilated." 


ALLIES  MEET  THE  INVADEES 


By  August  20  the  Germans  were  in  touch  with  the  French 
army  that  had  advanced  into  Belgium  and  occupied  the  line 
Dinant-Charleroi-Mons,  the  right  of  the  French  resting  on 
Binant  and  the  left  on  Mons,  where  they  were  reinforced  by 
the  British  expeditionary  force  under  Field  Marshal  French. 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         145 

There  was  a  heavy  engagement  at  Charleroi,  and  a  four  days* 
battle  was  begun  at  Mons  August  23.  Slowly  but  surely  the 
i'ranco-British  army  was  forced  back  across  the  French 
border,  to  take  up  a  new  position  on  the  line,  Noyon-Chanu- 
La  Fere,  which  constituted  the  second  line  of  the  French  de- 
fense. 

The  German  right,  opposing  the  British,  was  under  com- 
mand of  General  von  Kluck ;  General  von  Buelow  and  General 
von  Hansen  commanded  the  German  center  opposing  the 
Franco-Belgian  forces  between  the  Sambre  and  Namur  and 
the  Meuse.  The  Grand  Duke  Albrecht  of  Wuerttemberg  oper- 
ated between  Charleroi  and  the  French  border  fortress  of 
Maubeuge,  The  German  Crown  Prince  led  an  army  far- 
ther east,  advancing  toward  the  Meuse.  The  Crown 
Prince  of  Bavaria  commanded  the  German  forces  far- 
ther south  toward  Nancy,  and  General  von  Heeringen  was 
engaged  in  repulsing  French  attacks  on  Alsace-Lorraine,  in 
the  region  of  the  Vosges  mountains,  where  the  French  had 
met  with  early  successes. 

Meanwhile  on  August  18  the  town  of  Aerschot  had  been 
the  scene  of  a  bloody  engagement  and  was  occupied  and  partly 
destroyed  by  the  Germans.  The  occupation  of  Brussels  fol- 
lowed on  August  20-21  and  the  German  line  of  communica- 
tions was  kept  open  by  a  line  of  occupied  towns. 

After  overwhelming  the  Belgians  the  Kaiser's  great  ad- 
vance army  swept  quickly  into  deadly  conflict  with  the  alfies. 
The  first  mighty  shock  came  at  Charleroi,  where  the  French 
were  forced  back,  and  on  August  23  came  the  first  battle 
with  the  British  at  Mons. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  MONS — FOUR  DAYS  OF  FIGHTING EETREAT  OF  THE 

ALLIES 

All  England  was  thrilled  on  the  morning  of  September  10 
when  the  British  government  permitted  the  newspapers  to 
publish  the  first  report  from  Field  Marshal  Sir  John  D.  P. 
French,  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army  allied  with 
the  French  and  Belgians  on  the  continent,  telling  of  the  heroio 
fight  made  by  the  British  troops,  i^ugust  23-26,  to  keep  from 
being  annihilated  by  the  Germans. 


146    EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

The  withdrawal  of  the  British  army  before  the  German 
advance  was  compared  to  the  pursuit  of  a  wildcat  by  houndSc 
the  English  force  backing  stubbornly  toward  the  River  Oise, 
constantly  showing  its  teeth,  but  realizing  that  it  must  reach 
the  river  or  perish.  The  report  of  Field  Marshal  French 
created  much  surprise  in  England,  as  it  was  not  known  until 
his  statement  was  made  public  just  how  hard  pressed  the 
British  army  had  been. 

The  communication  was  addressed  to  Earl  Kitchener,  the 
secretary  for  war,  and  its  publication  indicated  that  the  gov- 
ernment was  responding  to  the  public  demand  for  fuller  infor- 
mation on  the  progress  of  operations,  so  far  as  the  British 
forces  in  France  were  concerned. 

The  report,  as  published  in  the  London  Gazette,  the  official 
organ,  was  as  follows : 

FIELD  MABSHAL  FRENCH 's  EEPOET 

**The  transportation  of  the  troops  from  England  by  rail 
and  sea  was  effected  in  the  best  order  and  without  a  check. 
Concentration  was  practically  completed  on  the  evening  of 
Friday,  August  21,  and  I  was  able  to  make  dispositions  to 
move  the  force  during  Saturday  to  positions  I  considered 
most  favorable  from  w^hich  to  commence  the  operations  which 
General  Joffre  requested  me  to  undertake.  The  line  extended 
along  the  line  of  the  canal  from  Conde  on  the  west,  through 
Mons  and  Binche  on  the  east. 

"During  August  22  and  23  the  advance  squadrons  did 
some  excellent  work,  some  of  them  penetrating  as  far  as  Soig- 
nies  (a  town  of  Belgium  ten  miles  northeast  of  Mons)  and 
several  encounters  took  place  in  which  our  troops  showed  to 
great  advantage. 

*'0n  Sunday,  the  23d,  reports  began  to  come  in  to  the 
effect  that  the  enemy  was  commencing  an  attack  on  the  Mons 
line,  apparently  in  some  strength,  but  that  the  right  of  the 
position  from  Mons  was  being  particularly  threatened. 

"The  commander  of  the  First  Corps  had  pushed  his  flank 
back  to  some  high  ground  south  of  Bray  and  the  Fifth  Cavalry 
evacuated  Binche,  moving  slightly  south.  The  enemy  there- 
upon occupied  Binche. 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         147 


''The  right  of  the  third  division  under  General  Hamilton 
was  at  Mons,  which  formed  a  somewhat  dangerous  salient 
and  I  directed  the  commander  of  the  Second  Corps  if  threat- 
ened seriously  to  draw  back  the  center  behind  Mons. 

*'In  the  meantime,  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  I  received 
a  most  unexpected  message  from  General  Joffre  by  telegraph, 
telling  me  that  at  least  three  German  corps  were  moving  on 
uiy  position  in  front  and  that  a  second  corps  was  engaged  in 
a  turning  movement  from  the  direction  of  Tournai.  He  also 
informed  me  that  the  two  reserve  French  divisions  and  the 
Fifth  French  Army  Corps  on  my  right  were  retiring. 

CHOSE  A  NEW  POSITION" 

''In  view  of  the  possibility  of  my  being  driven  from  the 
Mons  position,  I  had  previously  ordered  a  position  in  the  rear 
to  be  reconnoitered. 

''This  position  rested  on  the  fortress  of  Maubeuge  on  the 
right  and  extended  west  to  Jenlain,  southeast  of  Valenciennes 
on  the  left.  The  position  was  reported  diflficult  to  hold  be- 
cause standing  crops  and  buildings  limited  the  fire  in  many 
important  localities. 

"When  the  news  of  the  retirement  of  the  French  and  the 
heavy  German  threatening  on  my  front  reached  me,  I  endeav- 
ored to  confirm  it  by  aeroplane  reconnoissance,  and  as  a  result 
of  this  I  determined  to  effect  a  retirement  to  the  Maubeuge 
position  at  daybreak  on  the  24th. 

"A  certain  amount  of  fighting  continued  along  the  whole 
line  throughout  the  night  and  at  daybreak  on  the  24th  the 
second  division  from  the  neighborhood  of  Harmignies  made 
a  powerful  demonstration  as  if  to  retake  Binche.  This  was 
supported  by  the  artillery  of  both  the  first  and  the  second 
divisions  while  the  first  division  took  up  a  supporting  posi- 
tion in  the  neighborhood  of  Peissant  Under  cover  of  this 
demonstration  the  Second  Corps  retired  on  the  line  of  Dour, 
Quarouble  and  Frameries.  The  third  division  on  the  right 
of  the  corps  suffered  considerable  loss  in  this  operation  from 
the  enemy,  who  had  retaken  Mons. 

"The  Second  Corps  halted  on  this  line,  where  they  in- 
trenched themselves,  enabling  Sir  Douglas  Haig,  with  the 
First  Corps,  to  withdraw  to  the  new  position. 


148         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

NIGHT  ATTACK  ON  THE  LEFT 

^  *  *  Toward  midnight  the  enemy  appeared  to  be  directing  his 
principal  effort  against  our  left.  I  had  previously  ordered 
General  Allenby  with  the  cavalry  to  act  vigorously  in  advance 
of  my  left  front  and  endeavor  to  take  the  pressure  off. 

''About  7:30  in  the  morning  General  Allenby  received  a 
message  from  Sir  Charles  Fergusson,  commanding  the  fifth 
di\dsion,  saying  he  was  very  hard  pressed  and  in  urgent  need 
of  support.  On  receipt  of  this  message  General  Allenby  drew 
in  his  cavalry  and  endeavored  to  bring  direct  support  to  the 
fifth  division. 

''During  the  course  of  this  operation  General  DeLisle  of 
the  Second  Cavalry  Brigade  thought  he  saw  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  paralyze  the  further  advance  of  the  enemy's  infan- 
try by  making  a  mounted  attack  on  his  flank.  He  formed  up 
and  advanced  for  this  purpose,  but  was  held  up  by  wire  about 
500  yards  from  his  objective. 

GENERAL  SIVHTH-DOERIEN  IN  RETREAT 

' '  The  Nineteenth  Infantry  Brigade  was  brought  by  rail  to 
Valenciennes  on  the  22d  and  23d.  On  the  morning  of  the  24th, 
they  w^ere  moved  out  to  a  position  south  of  Quarouble  to  sup- 
port the  left  flank  of  the  Second  Corps.  With  the  assistance 
of  cavalry  Sir  Horace  Smith-Dorrien  was  enabled  to  effect 
his  retreat  to  a  new  position. 

"At  nightfall  a  position  was  occupied  by  the  Second  Corps 
to  the  west  of  Bavay,  the  First  Corps  to  the  right.  The  right 
was  protected  by  the  fortress  of  Maubeuge,  the  left  by  the 
Nineteenth  Brigade  in  position  between  Jenlain  and  Bavay 
and  cavalry  on  the  outer  flank.  The  French  w^ere  still  retir- 
ing and  I  had  no  support  except  such  as  was  afforded  by  the 
fortress  of  Maubeuge. 

ARMY  IN  GREAT  PERIL 

"I  felt  that  not  a  moment  must  be  lost  in  retiring  to  an- 
other position.  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  enemy's 
forces  were  somewhat  exhausted  and  I  knew  that  they  had 
suffered  heavy  losses.  The  operation,  however,  was  full  of 
danger  and  difficulty,  not  only  owing  to  the  very  superior 
forces  in  my  front,  but  also  to  the  exhaustion  of  the  troops. 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         149 

**Tlie  retirement  was  recommenced  in  tlie  early  morning  of 
the  25tli  to  a  position  in  the  neighborhood  of  Le  Cateau  and 
the  rear  guard  were  ordered  to  be  clear  of  Maubeuge  and 
Bavay  by  5 :30  a.  m. 

**The  fourth  division  commenced  its  detrainment  at  Le 
Cateau  on  Sunday,  August  23,  and  by  the  morning  of  the  25th 
eleven  battalions  and  a  brigade  of  artillery  with  the  divisional 
staff  were  available  for  service.  I  ordered  General  Snow  to 
move  out  to  take  up  a  position  with  his  right  south  of  So- 
lesmes,  his  left  resting  on  the  Cambrai-Le  Cateau  road  south 
of  La  Chapriz.  In  this  position  the  division  rendered  great 
help. 

''Although  the  troops  had  been  ordered  to  occupy  Cam- 
brai-Le Cateau-Landrecies  position  and  ground  had,  during 
the  25th,  been  partially  prepared  and  entrenched,  I  had  grave 
doubts  as  to  the  wisdom  of  standing  there  to  fight. 

* '  Having  regard  to  the  continued  retirement  of  the  French 
right,  my  exposed  left  flank,  the  tendency  of  the  enemy's 
western  corps  to  envelop  me,  and,  more  than  all,  the  exhausted 
condition  of  the  troops,  I  determined  to  make  a  great  effort 
to  continue  the  retreat  till  I  could  put  some  substantial  obsta- 
cle, such  as  the  Somme  or  the  Oise  between  my  troops  and  the 
enemy. 

EETEEAT  IS  ORDERED 

**  Orders  were  therefore  sent  to  the  corps  commanders  to 
continue  their  retreat  as  soon  as  they  possibly  could  toward 
the  general  line  of  Vermand,  St.  Quentin  and  Ribemont,  and 
the  cavalry  under  General  Allenby  were  ordered  to  cover  the 
retirement.  Throughout  the  25th  and  far  into  the  evening 
the  First  Corps  continued  to  march  on  Landrecies,  following 
the  road  along  the  eastern  border  of  the  forest  of  Mormal, 
and  arrived  at  Landrecies  about  10  o  'clock.  I  had  intended 
that  the  corps  should  come  further  west  so  as  to  fill  up  the 
gap  between  Le  Cateau  and  Landrecies,  but  the  men  were 
exhausted  and  could  not  get  further  in  without  a  rest. 

' '  The  enemy,  however,  would  not  allow  them  this  rest  and 
about  9:30  that  evening  the  report  was  received  that  the 
Fourth  Guards  brigade  in  Landrecies  was  heavily  attacked 


150        EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

by  troops  of  the  Ninth  German  army  corps,  who  were  coming 
through  the  forest  to  the  north  of  the  town. 

FRENCH  AID  IS  GIVEN 

**  At  the  same  time  information  reached  me  from  Sir  Dong- 
las  Haig  that  his  first  division  was  also  heavily  engaged  south 
and  east  of  Marilles.  I  sent  urgent  messages  to  the  com- 
mander of  two  French  reserve  divisions  on  my  right  to  come 
up  to  the  assistance  of  the  First  Corps,  which  they  eventually 
did. 

'*By  about  6  in  the  afternoon  the  Second  Corps  had  got 
into  position,  with  their  right  on  Le  Cateau,  their  left  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Caudry,  and  the  line  of  defense  was  con- 
tinued thence  by  the  fourth  division  toward  Seranvillers. 

**  During  the  fighting  on  the  24th  and  25th  the  cavalry 
became  a  good  deal  scattered,  but  by  early  morning  of  the 
26th  General  Allenby  had  succeeded  in  concentrating  two 
brigades  to  the  south  of  Cambrai. 

'  *  On  the  24th  the  French  cavalry  corps,  consisting  of  three 
divisions  under  General  Sordet,  had  been  in  billets,  north  of 
Avesnes  On  my  way  back  from  Vavay,  which  was  my  poste 
de  commandemente  during  the  fighting  of  the  23d  and  the 
24th,  I  visited  General  Sordet  and  earnestly  requested  his  co- 
operation and  support.  He  promised  to  obtain  sanction  from 
his  army  commander  to  act  on  my  left  flank,  but  said  that 
his  horses  were  too  tired  to  move  before  the  next  day. 

"Although  he  rendered  me  valuable  assistance  later  on  in 
the  course  of  the  retirement,  he  was  unable  for  the  reasons 
given  to  afford  me  any  support  on  the  most  critical  day  of  all 
— namely,  the  26th. 

GERMANS  USE  HEAVY  GUNS 

**At  daybreak  it  became  apparent  that  the  enemy  was 
thromng  the  bulk  of  his  strength  against  the  left  of  the  posi- 
tion occupied  by  the  Second  Corps  and  the  fourth  division.  At 
this  time  the  guns  of  four  German  army  corps  were  in  posi- 
tion against  them,  and  Sir  Horace  Smith-Dorrien  reported 
to  me  that  he  judged  it  impossible  to  continue  his  retirement 
at  daybreak. 

**I  sent  him  orders  to  use  his  utmost  endeavors  to  break 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         151 

off.  the  action  and  retire  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  as  it 
was  impossible  for  me  to  send  him  support. 

''The  French  cavalry  corps  under  General  Sordet  was 
coming  up  on  our  left  rear  early  in  the  morning,  and  I  sent 
him  an  urgent  message  to  do  his  utmost  to  come  up  and  sup- 
port the  retirement  of  my  left  flank,  but  owing  to  the  fatigue 
of  his  horses  he  found  himself  unable  to  intervene  in  any 
way. 

"There  had  been  no  time  to  intrench  the  position  properly, 
but  the  troops  showed  a  magnificent  front  to  the  terrible  fire 
which  confronted  them. 

AEMY  FACED  AKNIHELATIOIT 

**At  length  it  became  apparent  that  if  complete  annihila- 
tion VMS  to  be  avoided  retirement  must  be  attempted,  and  the 
ordej^  was  given  to  commence  it  about  3 :30  in  the  afternoon. 
The  movement  was  covered  with  most  devoted  intrepidity  and 
determination  by  the  artillery,  which  had  itself  suffered 
heavily,  and  the  fine  work  done  by  the  cavalry  in  the  further 
retreat  from  the  position  assisted  materially  the  final  comple- 
tion of  this  most  difficult  and  dangerous  operation. 

' '  I  cannot  close  the  brief  account  of  this  glorious  stand  of 
the  British  troops  without  putting  on  record  my  deep  appre- 
ciation of  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  Sir  Horace  Smith- 
Dorrien.  I  say  without  hesitation  that  the  saving  of  the  left 
wing  of  the  army  under  my  command  on  the  morning  of  the 
26th  could  never  have  been  accomphshed  unless  a  commander 
of  rare  and  unusual  coolness,  intrepidity  and  determination 
had  been  present  to  personally  conduct  the  operations. 

*'The  retreat  was  continued  far  into  the  night  of  the  26th 
and  through  the  27th  and  the  28th,  on  which  date  the  troops 
halted  on  the  liae  from  Noyon,  Chauny  and  LeFere. 

PRAISES  SOEDEt's  HELP 

"On  the  27th  and  28th  I  was  rtiuch  indebted  to  General 
Sordet  and  the  French  cavalry  division  which  he  commands 
for  materially  assisting  my  retirement  and  successfully  driv- 
ing back  some  of  the  enemy  on  Cambrai.  General  d'Amade 
also,  with  the  Sixty-first  and  Sixty-second  Reserve  divisions, 
moved  down  from  the  neighborhood  of  Arras  on  the  enemy's 


152    EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

right  flank  and  took  much  pressure  off  the  rear  of  the  British 
forces. 

*'This  closed  the  period  covering  the  heavy  fighting  which 
commenced  at  Mons  on  Sunday  afternoon,  August  23,  and 
which  really  constituted  a  four  days'  battle. 

"I  deeply  deplore  the  very  serious  losses  which  the  Brit- 
ish forces  suffered  in  this  great  battle,  but  they  were  inevi- 
table, in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  British  army — only  a  few 
days  after  concentration  by  rail — was  called  upon  to  with- 
stand the  vigorous  attack  of  five  German  army  corps. 

*'It  is  impossible  for  me  to  speak  too  highly  of  the  skill 
evinced  by  the  two  general  ofiicers  commanding  army  corps, 
the  self-sacrificing  and  devoted  exertions  of  their  staffs,  the 
direction  of  troops  by  the  divisional,  brigade  and  regimental 
leaders,  the  command  of  small  units  by  their  officers  and  the 
magnificent  fighting  spirit  displayed  by  the  noncommissioned 
officers  and  men. 

[Signed]     **  J.  D.  P.  French, 
** Field  Marshal." 

TOLD  BY  A  WOUNDED  SOLDIER 

A  British  soldier,  who  was  wounded  in  the  fight  during 
the  retreat  from  Mons,  told  the  following  story  of  the  battle 
there : 

*^It  was  Sunday,  August  23,  and  the  British  regiments 
at  Mons  were  merry-making  and  enjoying  themselves  in  lei- 
sure along  the  streets.  Belgian  ladies,  returning  from  church, 
handed  the  soldiers  their  prayer  books  as  souvenirs,  while 
the  Belgian  men  gave  the  men  cigarettes  and  tobacco. 

**  About  noon,  when  the  men  were  beginning  to  think  about 
dinner,  a  German  aeroplane  appeared  overhead  and  began 
throwing  out  a  cloud  of  black  powder,  which  is  one  of  their 
favorite  methods  of  assisting  batteries  to  get  the  range. 

**No  sooner  had  the  powder  cloud  appeared  than  shrapnel 
began  to  burst  overhead  and  in  a  nr&ment  all  was  confusion 
and  uproar.  But  it  didn't  take  the  regiments  long  to  get  into 
fighting  trim  and  race  through  the  city  to  the  scene  of  opera- 
tions, which  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  small  canal,  in  the 
suburbs. 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAH         153 


<<' 


'Here  our  outposts  were  engaging  the  enemy  fiercely.  The 
outposts  lost  very  heavily,  most  of  the  damage  being  done 
by  shells.  The  rifle  fire  was  ineffective,  although  at  times 
the  lines  of  contenders  were  not  more  than  300  yards  apart. 
*'The  first  reinforcements  to  arrive  were  posted  in  a  glass 
factory,  the  walls  of  which  were  loop-holed,  and  we  doggedly 
held  that  position  until  nightfall,  when  we  fixed  bayonets  and 
lay  in  wait  in  case  the  enemy  made  an  attempt  to  rush  the  po- 
sition in  the  darkness. 

DESTEOY  BRIDGES  BEHIND  THEM 

*' About  midnight  orders  came  to  retire  over  the  canal  and 
two  companies  were  left  behind  to  keep  the  enemy  in  check 
temporarily.  After  the  main  body  had  crossed  the  bridge 
was  blown  up,  leaving  the  two  outpost  companies  to  get  across 
as  best  they  could  by  boats  or  swimming.  Most  of  them  man- 
aged to  reach  the  main  body  again. 

"The  main  body  retired  from  the  town  and  fell  back 
through  open  country,  being  kept  moving  all  night.  When 
daylight  arrived  it  was  apparent  from  higher  ground  that 
Mons  had  been  practically  blown  away  by  the  German  artil- 
lery. 

''Throughout  the  morning  we  continued  to  fight  a  rear- 
guard action,  but  the  steady  march  in  retreat  did  not  stop 
until  6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  British  found  them- 
selves well  out  of  range  of  the  German  artillery  in  a  quiet 
valley. 

"Here  all  the  troops  were  ordered  to  rest  and  eat.  As 
they  had  been  without  food  since  the  previous  morning's 
breakfast  it  was  rather  amusing  to  see  the  soldiers  going  into 
the  turnip  fields  and  eating  turnips  as  though  they  were 
apples. 

"At  8  o'clock  all  lights  were  extinguished,  the  soldiers 
were  ordered  to  make  no  noise  and  the  pickets  pushed  a  long 
distance  backward.  Long  before  dawn  the  troops  were  hastily 
started  again  and  continued  the  retirement. 

"By  noon  the  enemy  was  again  heard  from  and  a  large 
detachment  was  assigned  the  task  of  fighting  to  protect  our 
rear. 


154         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

WATCH  DUEL  IN  AIB 

*'Dnring  the  afternoon  both  the  German  and  British 
armies  watched  a  duel  in  the  air  between  French  and  German 
aeroplanes.  The  Frenchman  was  wonderfully  clever,  and 
succeeded  in  maneuvering  himself  to  the  upper  position, 
which  he  gained  after  fifteen  minutes  of  reckless  effort.  Then 
the  Frenchman  began  blazing  away  at  the  German  with  a 
revolver. 

''Finally  he  hit  him,  and  the  wounded  German  attempted 
to  glide  down  into  his  own  lines.  The  glide,  however,  ended 
in  the  British  lines  near  my  detachment,  the  West  Kent  In- 
fantry. We  found  the  aviator  dead  when  we  reached  the  ma- 
chine.   We  buried  him  and  burned  the  aeroplane. 

''At  dusk  a  halt  was  made  for  food,  and  as  the  Germans 
had  fallen  behind  the  English  spent  a  quiet  night.  At  dawn, 
however,  we  found  the  Germans  close  to  our  heels,  and  several 
regiments  were  ordered  to  prepare  intrenchments.  This  is 
tedious  and  tiresome  work,  especially  in  the  heat  and  with- 
out proper  food,  but  we  quickly  put  up  fortifications  which 
were  sufficient  to  protect  us  somewhat  from  the  artillery 
fire. 

"It  was  not  long  before  the  German  gunners  found  the 
range  and  began  tearing  up  those  rough  fortifications,  con- 
centrating their  fire  on  the  British  batteries,  one  of  which  was 
completely  demolished.  Another  found  itself  with  only  six 
men.  Both  these  disasters  bore  testimony  to  the  excellent 
markmanship  of  the  German  gunners. 

OFFICER  SPIKES  THE  GUNS 

**As  it  became  evident  that  we  must  leave  these  guna  be- 
hind and  continue  the  retreat,  an  officer  was  seen  going  around 
putting  the  guns  out  of  action,  so  that  they  would  be  of  no 
use  to  the  Germans.  His  action  required  cool  bravery,  be- 
cause the  Germans,  having  found  the  range,  continued  firing 
directly  at  these  batteries. 

"Things  rapidly  got  hotter,  and  the  commanding  officer 
ordered  a  double-quick  retreat.  We  were  not  long  in  doing 
the  retiring  movement  to  save  our  own  skins. 

**I  was  wounded  at  this  time  by  a  Maxim  bullet.    For  a 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         155 

moment  I  tliouglit  my  head  had  been  blown  off,  but  I  recov- 
ered and  kept  on  running  until  I  reached  a  trench,  where  I 
had  an  opportunity  to  bandage  the  wound.  I  rushed  off  to 
the  ambulances,  but  found  the  doctors  so  busy  with  men 
worse  off  than  I  that  I  went  back  to  my  place  in  the  line." 

THE  BATTLE  AT  CHAELEEOI 

The  loss  of  life  in  the  Franco-German  battle  near  Char- 
ier oi  was  admittedly  the  greatest  of  any  engagement  up  to 
that  time.  It  was  at  Charleroi  that  the  Germans  struck  their 
most  terrific  blow  at  the  allies'  lines  in  their  determination 
to  gain  the  French  frontier.  Though  the  tide  of  battle  ebbed 
and  flowed  for  awhile  the  French  were  finally  forced  to  give 
way  and  to  retreat  behind  their  own  frontier,  while  the  Brit- 
ish were  being  forced  back  from  their  position  at  Mons.  The 
fighting  along  the  line  was  of  the  fiercest  kind.  It  was  a 
titanic  clash  of  armies  in  which  the  allies  were  compelled  to 
yield  ground  before  the  superior  numbers  of  the  German  host. 

One  of  the  wounded,  who  was  taken  to  hospital  at  Dieppe, 
said  of  the  fighting  at  Charleroi : 

''Our  army  was  engaging  what  we  believed  to  be  a  sec- 
tion of  the  German  forces  commanded  by  the  crown  prince 
when  I  was  wounded.  The  Germans  at  one  stage  of  the  bat- 
tle seemed  lost.  They  had  been  defending  themselves  almost 
entirely  with  howitzers  from  strongly  intrenched  positions. 
The  Germans  were  seemingly  surrounded  and  cut  off  and  were 
summoned  to  surrender.  The  reply  came  back  that  so  long 
as  they  had  ammunition  they  would  continue  to  fight. 

"The  howitzer  shells  of  the  Germans  seemed  enormous 
things  and  only  exploded  when  they  struck  the  earth.  When 
one  would  descend  it  would  dig  a  hole  a  yard  deep  and  split 
into  hundreds  of  pieces.  Peculiarly  enough  the  howitzer 
shells  did  much  more  wounding  than  killing.  The  other  shells 
of  the  Germans,  like  cartridges,  the  supply  of  which  they 
seemed  to  be  short  of,  did  only  little  damage. 

AEEOS  CONSTANTLY  ABOVE 

''The  German  aeroplane  service  was  perfect.  An  air- 
craft was  always  hovering  over  us  out  of  range.  We  were 
certain  within  an  hour  after  we  sighted  an  aeroplane  to  get 


156         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

the  howitzers  among  us.  Whenever  we  fired,  however,  we  did 
terrific  execution  with  our  seventy-five  pieces  of  artillery.  I 
counted  in  one  trench  185  dead.  Many  of  them  were  killed 
as  they  were  in  the  act  of  firing  or  loading. 

**The  ground  occupied  by  the  Germans  was  so  thick  with 
dead  that  I  believe  I  saw  one  soldier  to  every  two  yards.  You 
might  have  walked  for  a  mile  on  bodies  without  ever  putting 
foot  to  the  ground.  They  buried  their  dead  when  they  had 
time,  piling  fifteen  or  twenty  in  a  shallow  pit." 


THE  FKENCH  IN  ALSACE-LORRAINE 

On  August  9  the  advance  guard  brigade  of  the  French 
right  wing,  under  General  Pau,  a  veteran  of  the  Franco-Prus- 
sian war  of  1870-71,  invaded  Alsace,  fought  a  victorious  action 
with  an  intrenched  German  force  of  equal  numbers  and  occu- 
pied Muelhausen  and  Kolmar.  The  news  of  the  French  entry 
into  the  pro\4nce  lost  in  1871  was  received  all  over  France 
with  wild  enthusiasm.  The  mourning  emblems  on  the  Stras- 
burg  monument  in  Paris  were  removed  by  the  excited  popu- 
lace and  replaced  by  the  tricolor  flag  and  flowers  in  token  of 
their  joy.  Muelhausen  was  soon  after  retaken  by  the  Ger- 
man forces,  only  to  be  recaptured  later  by  the  French  and 
then  evacuated  once  more. 

On  the  day  of  the  first  French  occupation  of  Muelhausen 
France  declared  war  against  Austria  in  consequence  of  the 
arrival  of  two  Austrian  army  corps  on  the  Rhine  to  assist 
the  main  German  army. 

After  the  French  occupation  of  Muelhausen  a  large  Ger- 
man  army  was  sent  to  the  front  in  Alsace-Lorraine  and  suc- 
ceeded in  dislodging  the  French  from  that  city,  but  not  with- 
out severe  fighting. 

Two  weeks  after  the  war  began  the  French  defeated  a 
Bavarian  corps  in  Alsace  and  for  awhile  General  Pau  more 
than  held  his  own  in  that  former  province  of  France.  On 
August  21  the  Germans  drove  back  the  French  who  had  in- 
vaded Lorraine,  and  occupied  Luneville,  ten  miles  inside  the 
French  border. 

About  the  same  time  the  French  reoccupied  Muelhausen, 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         157 

after  three  days*  fighting  around  the  city.  Another  French 
army  was  reported  to  be  within  nineteen  miles  of  Metz.  But 
before  the  end  of  the  month  the  French  had  been  compelled 
to  evacuate  both  their  former  provinces.  They  continued 
during  September,  however,  to  make  frequent  assaults  on 
the  German  frontier  positions,  but  without  regaining  a  sure 
foothold  on  German  soil,  the  bulk  of  their  eiforts  being  de- 
voted to  the  defense  of  their  own  frontier  strongholds. 

FIGHTING  ABOUND  NANCY 

An  official  dispatch  from  the  foreign  office  in  Paris,  dated 
August  28,  said: 

''Yesterday  the  French  troops  took  the  offensive  in  the 
Vosges  mountains  and  in  the  region  between  the  Vosges  and 
Nancy,  and  their  offensive  has  been  interrupted,  but  the  Ger- 
man loss  has  been  considerable. 

*'Our  forces  found,  near  Nancy,  on  a  front  of  three  kilo- 
meters, 2,500  dead  Germans,  and  near  Vitrimont,  on  a  front 
of  four  kilometers,  4,500  dead.  Longwy,  where  the  garrison 
consisted  of  only  one  battalion,  has  capitulated  to  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Germany  after  a  siege  of  twenty-four  days." 

FRENCH  TRAPPED  IN  ALSACE 

The  German  view  of  early  operations  in  Alsace-Lor- 
raine was  given  in  the  following  dispatch  September  2  from 
the  headquarters  of  the  general  staff  at  Aix-la-Chapelle : 

*'The  French  forces  were  trapped  in  Alsace-Lorraine. 
Realizing  that  the  French  temperament  was  more  likely  to  be 
swayed  by  sentiment  than  by  stern  adherence  to  the  rules 
of  actual  warfare,  the  German  staff  selected  its  own  battle 
line  and  waited.  The  French  did  not  disappoint.  They 
rushed  across  the  border.  They  took  Altkirch  with  little  oppo- 
sition. Then  they  rushed  on  to  Muelhausen.  Through  the 
passes  in  the  Vosges  mountains  they  poured,  hdrrse,  artillery, 
foot — all  branches  of  the  service.  Strasburg  was  to  fall  and 
so  swift  was  the  French  movement  that  Imes  of  communi- 
cation were  not  guarded. 

"Then  the  German  general  staff  struck.  Their  troops 
from  Saarburg,  from  Strasburg  and  from  Metz,  under  the 
command  of  General  von  Heeringen,  attacked  the  French  all 


158         EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

along  the  line.  They  were  utterly  crushed.  The  Germans 
took  10,000  Frenchmen  prisoners  and  more  than  one  hundred 
guns  of  every  description.  Alsace-Lorraine  is  now  reported 
absolutely  cleared  of  French  troops. 

''The  armies  of  Crown  Prince  Frederick  Wilhelm  and  of 
Crown  Prince  Rupprecht  of  Bavaria  are  moving  in  an  irre- 
sistible manner  into  France.  In  a  3-day  battle  below  Metz 
the  French  were  terribly  cut  up  and  forced  to  retreat  in  al- 
most a  rout.  It  is  declared  that  in  this  engagement  the  French 
lost  151  guns  and  were  unable  to  make  a  stand  against  the  vic- 
torious Germans  until  they  had  passed  inside  of  their  sec- 
ondary line  of  defense." 

THE  GERMAN  "SPY  POSTERS " 

Just  prior  to  the  declaration  of  war,  cable  dispatches  from 
Paris  told  of  a  remarkable  series  of  posters  dotting  the  coun- 
tryside of  France.  These  posters,  innocently  advertising 
"Bouillon  Kub,"  a  German  soup  preparation,  were  so  clev- 
erly printed  by  the  German  concern  advertising  the  soup, 
that  they  woufd  act  as  signals  to  German  army  ofiS;cers  lead- 
ing their  troops  through  France. 

In  one  of  our  photographic  illustrations,  one  of  these 
"spy  posters"  is  seen  posted  on  the  left  of  an  archway  past 
Vv'hich  the  French  soldiers  are  marching  en  route  to  meet  the 
Germans  near  the  Alsace  frontier. 

The  ingenuity  of  the  signs  was  remarkable.  Thus  a  square 
yellow  poster  would  carry  the  information,  "Food  in  abun- 
dance found  here,"  while  a  round  red  sign  would  advertise, 
' '  This  ground  is  mined. ' '  Many  geometrical  figures  and  most 
of  the  colors  were  utilized,  and  animal  forms,  flowers  and 
even  the  American  Stars  and  Stripes  were  employed  to  con- 
vey their  messages  of  information. 

The  French  Minister  of  the  Interior  got  wind  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  orders  were  telegraphed  throughout  France  to  de- 
stroy these  posters.  Bouillon  Kub,  therefore,  is  no  longer  ad- 
vertised in  France. 

A  SOLDIER  *S  EXPERIENCE  TJNDER  FIRE 

A  wounded  French  soldier  described  his  experiences  un- 
der fire  during  the  Alsace  campaign.    He  said  in  part : 


EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR         159 

** There!  A  blow  in  the  breast,  a  tearing  in  the  body,  a 
fall  with  a  loud  cry  and  a  terrible  pain;  there  I  lay  one  of 
the  victims  of  this  terrible  day.  My  j&rst  sensation  was  anger 
at  the  blow,  my  second  an  expectation  of  seeing  myself  ex- 
plode, for,  judging  by  the  sound  of  the  ball,  I  believed  I  had  a 
grenade  in  my  body;  then  came  the  pain,  and  with  it  help- 
lessness and  falling. 

**0h,  how  frightful  are  those  first  moments!  Where  I 
was  hit,  how  I  was  wounded,  I  could  form  no  idea;  I  only 
felt  that  I  could  not  stir,  saw  the  battalion  disappear  from 
sight  and  myself  alone  on  the  ground,  amid  the  fearful  howl- 
ing and  whistling  of  the  balls  which  were  incessantly  striking 
the  ground  around  me. 

''With  difficulty  could  I  turn  my  head  a  little,  and  saw 
behind  me  two  soldiers  attending  on  a  third,  who  was  lying  on 
the  ground.  Of  what  happened  I  can  give  no  account  except 
that  I  cried  for  help  several  times  as  well  as  I  could,  for  the 
pain  and  burning  thirst  had  the  upper  hand.  At  last  both  of 
them  ran  to  me,  and  with  joy  I  recognized  the  doctor  and 
hospital  attendant  of  my  company. 

"  'Where  are  you  wounded?'  was  the  first  question.  I 
could  only  point.  My  blouse  was  quickly  opened,  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  breast  a  bloody  wound  was  found.  The  balls 
still  constantly  whizzed  around  us;  one  struck  the  doctor's 
helmet,  and  immediately  I  felt  a  violent  blow  on  the  left  arm. 
Another  wound !  With  difficulty  I  was  turned  round,  to  look 
for  the  outlet  of  the  bullet ;  but  it  was  still  in  my  body,  near 
the  spine.  At  last  it  was  cut  out.  They  were  going  away — 
'  The  wound  in  the  arm,  doctor. '  This,  fortunately,  was  looked 
for  in  vain ;  the  ball  had  merely  caused  a  blue  spot  and  had 
sunk  harmlessly  into  the  ground. 

"I  extended  my  hand  to  the  doctor  and  thanked  him,  as 
also  the  attendant,  whom  I  commissioned  to  ask  the  sergeant 
to  send  word  to  my  family.  The  doctor  had  carefully  placed 
my  cloak  over  me,  with  my  helmet  firmly  on  my  head,  in  order 
in  some  measure  to  protect  me  from  the  leaden  hail. 

"Thus  I  lay  alone  with  my  own  thoughts  amid  the  most 
terrible  fire  for  perhaps  an  hour  and  a  half.  All  my  thoughts, 
as  far  as  pain  and  increasing  weakness  allowed,  were  fixed  on 


160    EARLY  BATTLES  OF  THE  WAR 

my  family.  Gradually  I  got  accustomed  to  the  danger  which 
surrounded  me,  and  only  when  too  much  sand  from  the  strik- 
ing bullets  was  thrown  on  my  body  did  I  remember  my  little 
enviable  position.  At  last,  after  long,  long  waiting,  the  sani- 
tary detachment  came  for  me." 

THE  REAL  TRAGEDY  OF  WAR 

It  is  not  a  pleasant  picture — this  story  of  the  French  sol- 
dier. It  has  little  in  it  of  the  grandeur,  the  beat  of  drums, 
the  sound  of  martial  music,  which  is  supposed  to  accompany 
war.  The  tread  of  marching  feet  has  died  away,  the  excite- 
ment is  gone,  and  man  the  demon  is  supplanted  by  man  the 
everyday  human  creature  of  suffering  and  home  folks  and 
fear. 

It  is  only  a  personal  account  of  an  individual  experience, 
yet  in  it  may  be  found  the  real  significance  and  the  real  trag- 
edy of  war ;  for,  after  the  fighting  is  over,  after  the  intoxica- 
tion of  legalized  murder  has  gone,  after  nations  turn  their 
attention  from  victories  to  men,  it  is  the  aggregate  of  indi- 
vidual experiences  which  counts  the  costs  of  war. 

Thousands  of  German,  French,  Belgian,  Austrian,  Rus- 
sian, and  British  men  in  the  prime  of  life  have  been  miserably 
slain  and  lie  in  obscure  graves  of  which  the  enemy  now  is  the 
guardian,  while  others  writhe  in  the  agony  of  lingering  wounds 
or  sullenly  brood  over  their  fate  in  the  dull  routine  of  mili- 
tary prisons.  In  every  part  of  the  warring  countries  mothers 
weep  over  the  sons  they  shall  see  no  more,  and  wives  over 
the  husbands  snatched  from  them  forever.  In  many  a  man- 
sion, in  many  a  comfortable  home,  in  many  a  peasant's  cot- 
tage, the  empty  chair  is  eloquent  of  the  absent  father,  brother, 
husband  or  son  who  shall  be  absent  forever. 


CHAPTER  T 

GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 

dllies  Withdraw  for  Ten  Days,  Disputing  Every  IncH  of 
Grou/nd  With  the  Kaiser's  Troops— Germans  Push 
Their  Way  Through  France  in  Three  Main  Columns — 
Official  Reports  of  the  Withdrawing  Engagements — 
Paris  Almost  in  Sight. 

FLUSHED  with  their  successes  over  the  Allies  at  Mons 
and  Charleroi,  the  Germans  pushed  their  advance 
toward  the  French  capital  with  great  celerity  and  vigor. 
During  the  last  week  of  August  and  the  first  few  days  of 
Septi^mber,  it  appeared  inevitable  that  the  experience  of 
Paris  in  1870-71  was  to  be  repeated  and  that  a  siege  of  the 
city  by  the  German  forces  would  follow  immediately. 

It  was  conceded  that  the  armies  of  the  Allies  had  been 
forced  back  and  that  Paris  was  endangered.  The  German 
advance  was  general,  all  along  the  line.  The  flower  of  the 
Kaiser's  army  had  marched  through  Belgium  and  pushed 
back  the  lines  of  the  Allies  to  the  formidable  rows  of  forti- 
fications that  surround  Paris.  The  Germans  advanced  in 
three  main  columns,  constantly  in  touch  with  one  another, 
from  the  right,  passing  through  Mons,  Cambrai  and  Amiens, 
to  the  extreme  left  in  Lorraine.  The  center  threatened  Ver- 
dun, and  from  that  point  the  right  advance  swept  through 
Northern  France  like  an  opening  fan,  with  the  fortress  of 
Verdun  as  the  pivot. 

Three  million  men  were  engaged  in  the  main  struggle. 
When  the  Germans  first  reached  the  Franco-Belgian  frontier 
near  Charleroi  they  were  opposed  by  700,000  French  and  150,- 
000  British  troops.    After  being  driven  back  the  Allies  began 

161 


162  GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 

assembling  1,000,000  men  between  the  frontier  and  Paris. 
The  Allies  hoped  to  hold  the  whole  German  army  in  check 
while  the  Russians  pursued  their  successes  in  eastern  Grer- 
many.  French  troops  guarded  the  entire  frontier,  batthng 
to  check  the  other  German  invading  columns.  The  holding  of 
the  Germans,  once  they  broke  through  the  fortifications  that 
formed  the  cliief  reliance  of  the  French,  would  be  impossible. 
The  next  stand  would  be  around  Paris,  which  was  well  forti- 
fied. The  invaders  were,  of  course,  attempting  to  get  through 
where  there  were  no  forts. 

ALLIES   MAKE   STRENUOUS   EESISTANCB 

Strenuous  resistance  to  the  onward  movement  of  the  Grer- 
man  enemy  was  made  by  the  Allies  from  day  to  day,  but  for 
a  period  of  ten  days  there  was  an  almost  continual  retire- 
ment of  the  French  and  British  upon  Paris.  It  was  in  fact  a 
masterly  retreat,  but  a  retreat  nevertheless.  From  the  line 
of  La  Fere  and  Mezieres,  occupied  by  the  Allies  after  the  bat- 
tles at  Mons  and  Charleroi,  they  fell  back  70  miles  m  seven 
days,  disputing  every  step  of  the  way,  but  withdrawing  grad- 
ually to  the  line  of  defenses  around  the  French  capital.  From 
Cambrai  the  Germans  pushed  through  Amiens  to  Beauvais ; 
from  Peronne  to  Roye,  Montdidier,  Creil,  and  on  to  the  forest 
of  Chantilly.  From  the  region  of  Le  Gateau  and  St.  Quen- 
tin  the  German  advance  was  by  Noyon  to  Compiegne  (famous 
for  its  memories  of  Joan  of  Arc's  famous  sortie),  at  which 
point  the  Allies  made  a  desperate  stand  and  the  Germans  had 
to  fight  for  every  inch  of  ground.  They  then  passed  through 
Senlis,  which  was  first  bombarded,  down  to  Meaux,  almost 
within  sight  of  Paris,  the  head  of  the  German  ai-my  resting 
on  a  line  between  Beaumont,  Meaux  and  La  Ferte,  at  which 
point  the  resistance  of  the  Allies  finally  forced  a  change  in 
German  plans. 

Other  German  forces  passed  through  Laon,  Soissons  and 
Chateau  Thierry.  Farther  to  the  east,  the  road  from  Meziereg 
led  the  Germans  to  Rheims,  Mourmelon,  and  opposite  Chalons 
on  the  River  Mame. 

Another  German  army  from  the  direction  of  Longwy, 
under  the  command  of  the  Crown  Prince,  was  operating 
tnrough  Suippes  and  on  the  wooded  Argonne  plateau,  with 


GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS         163 

its  five  passes,  famous  in  the  action  of  1792  which  preceded 
the  battle  of  Vahny.  At  the  entrance  to  this  hilly  country 
stands  the  little  town  of  Sainte  Menehould,  where  there  was 
severe  fighting  with  the  French.  Here  the  German  Crown 
Prince  made  Ms  headquarters. 

The  great  plain  of  the  Argonne  is  full  of  most  wonderful 
ecclesiastical  buildings  and  many  magnificent  cathedrals, 
townhalls  and  ancient  fortresses  were  passed  by  the  warring 
armies  in  their  advance  and  withdrawal,  some  of  these  his- 
toric structures  sustaining  irreparable  damage. 

The  German  advance  continued  southward  toward  Paris 
until  September  4. 

EELENTLESS  PURSUIT  OF  THE  BRITISH 

All  reports  agree  that  during  the  retirement  of  the  Allies, 
the  Germans  pursued  the  British  headquarters  staff  with  un- 
canny precision  throughout  the  ten  days  from  Mons  back  to 
Compiegne.  After  fierce  street  fighting  in  Denain  and  Lan- 
drecies  Sir  John  French  withdrew  his  headquarters  to  Le 
Cateau,  which  was  at  once  made  the  target  of  a  terrific  bom- 
bardment. The  town  caught  fire,  burning  throughout  one 
night,  and  the  British  headquarters  had  to  be  evacuated,  this 
time  in  favor  of  St.  Quentin,  in  the  local  college.  Here  the 
same  thing  happened  and  Field  Marshal  French  was  com- 
pelled once  more  to  retire,  to  the  neighborhood  of  Com- 
piegne. 

In  an  official  report  issued  on  Sunday,  September  6,  it  is 
stated  that,  ''The  5th  French  army  on  August  29  advanced 
from  the  line  of  the  Oise  Eiver  to  meet  and  counter  the  Ger- 
man forward  movement  and  a  considerable  battle  developed 
to  the  south  of  Guise.  In  this  the  5th  French  army  gained  a 
marked  and  solid  success,  driving  back  with  heavy  loss  and  in 
disorder  three  German  army  corps,  the  10th,  the  Guard,  and 
a  reserve  corps.  In  spite  of  this  success,  however,  and  all 
the  benefits  which  flowed  from  it,  the  general  retirement  to 
the  south  continued  and  the  German  armies,  seeking  persist- 
ently after  the  British  troops,  remained  in  practically  con- 
tinuous contact  with  the  rearguards. 

''On  August  30  and  31  the  British  covering  and  delaying 
troops  were  frequently  engaged,  and  on  September  1  a  very 


164         GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 

vigorous  effort  was  made  bj^  the  Germans,  which  brought 
about  a  sharp  action  in  the  neighborhood  of  Compiegne.  This 
action  was  fought  principally  by  the  1st  British  Cavalry  Bri- 
gade and  the  4th  Guards  Brigade  and  was  entirely  satisfactory 
to  the  British.  The  German  attack,  which  was  most  strongly 
pressed,  was  not  brought  to  a  standstill  until  much  slaughter 
had  been  inflicted  upon  them  and  until  ten  Geiman  guns  had 
been  captured.  The  brunt  of  this  affair  fell  upon  the  Guards 
Brigade,  which  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  about  300  men." 
This  affair  was  typical  of  the  numerous  rearguard  en- 
gagements fought  by  both  the  British  and  the  French  forces 
during  their  retirement. 

MASTEBLY  TACTICS  IN  BETIEING 

Pressing  hard  upon  the  rear  of  the  Allies  for  ten  days  was 
the  greatest  military  machine  that  has  ever  been  assembled  in 
one  cohesive  force.  Through  Belgium  had  poured  nearly 
2,000,000  German  troops,  made  up  of  about  800,000  first-Une 
soldiers  and  more  than  1,000,000  reserves.  The  twenty-six- 
hour  march  of  part  of  the  German  army  through  Brussels 
was  stunning  evidence  of  the  might  of  the  **war  machine,'* 
and  despite  fierce  fighting  all  the  way,  the  great  army  had 
never  faltered  in  its  150-mile  advance  in  Belgium. 

But  the  numerical  might  of  the  German  advance  was 
matched  by  the  masterly  tactics  of  the  Allies  in  retiring.  By 
these  tactics,  in  which  General  Joffre,  the  French  commander- 
in-chief,  co-operated  with  the  British  field-marshal,  Sir  John 
French,  the  Allies  prevented  their  lines  being  overwhelmed 
by  the  superior  numbers  of  their  foe,  but  the  German  right 
flank  and  center,  strung  out  over  a  line  more  than  150  miles 
long,  northeast  of  Paris,  kept  smashing  on.  Losses  were 
frightfully  heavy,  but  the  Kaiser's  order  was  **Take  Paris  I'* 

It  was  believed  certain  that  the  German  general  staff  had 
staked  everything  on  investing  Paris  immediately,  by  com- 
pletely breaking  down  the  opposition  massed  between  the  Ger- 
man lines  and  the  city.  Paris  had  therefore  prepared  for  the 
siege,  with  her  great  circles  of  forts  strengthened  and  her 
food  supply  replenished.  Many  of  the  residents  fled  the  city 
in  panic,  fearing  a  repetition  of  the  dread  days  of  1871,  with 
their  privation  and  distress,  but  the  spirit  of  the  French  peo- 


GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS         165 

pie  generally  remained  unshaken  and  General  Gallieni,  mili- 
tary governor  of  Paris,  assumed  complete  control  of  the  situ- 
ation in  the  city. 

GOVEENMENT  MOVED  TO  BOKDEAUX 

On  August  26  the  French  cabinet  had  resigned  in  a  body 
and  it  was  reconstructed  on  broader  lines  under  Premier 
yiviani  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  national  emergency.  ^ 

German  troops  were  reported  within  40  miles  of  Paris  on 
September  3,  and  at  3  A.  M.  of  that  day  a  proclamation  was 
issued  by  President  Poincare,  announcing  that  the  seat  of 
government  would  be  temporarily  transferred  from  Paris  to 
Bordeaux.  The  minister  of  the  interior  stated  that  this  de- 
cision had  been  taken  * '  solely  upon  the  demand  of  the  military 
authorities  because  the  fortified  places  of  Paris,  while  not 
necessarily  likely  to  be  attacked,  would  become  the  pivot  of 
the  field  operations  of  the  two  armies. '  * 

The  text  of  President  Poincare 's  proclamation  was  as 
follows : 

*  *  ENDURE  AND  FIGHT  ! " 

"Frenchmen:  For  several  weeks  our  heroic  troops  have 
been  engaged  in  the  fierce  combat  with  the  enemy.  The  cour- 
age of  our  soldiers  has  won  for  them  a  number  of  marked  ad- 
vantages. But  in  the  north  the  pressure  of  the  German  forces 
has  constrained  us  to  retire.  This  situation  imposes  on  the 
president  of  the  Eepublic  and  the  government  a  painful  de- 
cision. 

"To  safeguard  the  national  safety  the  public  authorities 
are  obliged  to  leave  for  the  moment  the  city  of  Paris.  Under 
the  command  of  its  eminent  chief,  the  French  army,  full  of 
courage  and  spirit,  will  defend  the  capital  and  its  patriotic 
population  against  the  invader.  But  the  war  must  be  pursued 
at  the  same  time  in  the  rest  of  the  French  territory. 

"The  sacred  struggle  for  the  honor  of  the  nation  and  the 
reparation  of  violated  rights  will  continue  without  peace  or 
truce  and  without  a  stop  or  a  failure.  None  of  our  armies 
has  been  broken. 

"If  some  of  them  have  suffered  only  too  evident  losses,  the 
gaps  in  the  ranks  have  been  filled  up  from  the  waiting  reserve 


166  GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 

forces,  while  the  calling  out  of  a  new  class  of  reserves  brings 
us  tomorrow  new  resources  in  men  and  energy. 

** Endure  and  fight!  Such  should  be  the  motto  of  the  allied 
army,  British,  Russians,  Belgians  and  French. 

* '  Endure  and  fight !  While  on  the  sea  our  allies  aid  us  to 
cut  the  enemy's  communications  with  the  world. 

"Endure  and  fight!  While  the  Russians  continue  to  carry 
a  decisive  blow  to  the  heart  of  the  German  empire. 

*  *  It  is  for  the  government  of  this  republic  to  direct  this  re- 
sistance to  the  very  end  and  to  give  to  this  formidable 
struggle  all  its  vigor  and  efficiency.  It  is  indispensable  that 
the  government  retain  the  masteiy  of  its  own  actions.  On 
the  demand  of  the  military  authorities  the  government  there- 
fore transfers  its  seat  momentarily  to  a  point  of  the  territory 
whence  it  may  remain  in  constant  relations  with  the  rest  of 
the  country.  It  invites  the  members  of  parhament  not  to 
remain  distant  from  the  government,  in  order  to  form,  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy,  with  the  government  and  their  colleagues, 
a  group  of  national  unity. 

**The  government  does  not  leave  Paris  without  having  as- 
sured a  defense  of  the  city  and  its  entrenched  camp  by  all 
means  in  its  power.  It  knows  it  has  not  the  need  to  recom- 
mend to  the  admirable  Parisian  population  a  calm  resolution 
and  sangfroid,  for  it  shows  every  day  it  is  equal  to  its  great- 
est duties. 

*' Frenchmen,  let  us  all  be  worthy  of  these  tragic  circum- 
stances. We  shall  gain  a  final  \ictory  and  we  shall  gain  it  by 
untiring  will,  endurance  and  tenacity.  A  nation  that  will  not 
perish,  and  which,  to  live,  retreats  before  neither  suffering 
nor  sacrifice,  is  sure  to  vanquish." 

The  removal  of  the  French  government  departments  to 
Bordeaux  was  accomplished  within  twenty-four  hours  and 
the  southern  city  became  at  once  a  center  of  remarkable  ac- 
tivity. Ambassador  Herrick,  representing  the  United  States, 
remained  in  Paris  to  render  aid  to  his  fellow-countrjonen  who 
w^ere  seeking  means  of  returning  to  America  and  were  more 
than  ever  anxious  to  get  away  when  a  state  of  siege  became 
imminent. 


GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 


167 


A  radical  change  in  the  French  military  operations  was 
put  in  effect  after  the  Germans  had  swept  in  from  Belgium, 
and  had  taken  the  cities  of  Lille,  Roubaix,  and  Longwy.  The 
French  army  had  attempted  to  strike  and  shatter  the  Germans 
at  their  weakest  point,  and  failed. 

Paris  prepared  for  the  worst  when  the  Kaiser's  conquer- 
ing army  reached  La  Fere,  about  seventy  miles  away.  From 
Amiens  to  La  Fere  the  Germans  pressed  their  attack  hardest. 
As  the  Allies  were  seen  to  be  gradually  falling  back,  reserve 
troops  were  assembled  in  Paris  and  the  forts  put  in  readiness 
for  siege. 

THE  FORTIFICATIONS  OF  PARIS 

Paris  has  one  of  the  strongest  fortification  systems  of  any 
city  in  the  world.  The  siege  of  the  giant  city  would  be  a  much 
greater  undertaking  than  forty-four  years  ago,  as  the  forti- 


MAP  OP  TSESCH  C&PITAL,  WITH  SIABS  DTDICATHIO  POSmBH  OF  FOBTTnCATIOIfS. 


168  GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 

fications  liave  been  essentially  augmented  and  strengthened 
since  the  Franco-Prussian  war. 

The  fortifications  consist  of  the  old  city  walls,  the  old  belt 
of  forts  and  the  new  enceinture  of  the  fortified  camps,  which 
have  been  advanced  far  outside  of  the  reach  of  the  old  forts. 
The  main  w^all,  ten  meters  (33  feet)  high,  consists  of  ninety- 
four  bastions  and  is  surrounded  by  a  ditch  fifteen  meters  wide. 
Behind  the  wall  a  ringroad  and  a  belt  line  run  around  the  city. 

The  belt  of  old  forts  surrounds  this  main  fortification  of 
the  city  at  a  little  distance  and  consists  of  not  less  than  six- 
teen forts.  Those  farthest  advanced  are  hardly  half  a  mile 
distant  from  the  main  wall.  The  experiences  of  the  last  war, 
the  immense  progress  of  the  artillery,  and  especially  the 
wider  reach  of  the  modern  siege  guns  induced  the  French 
army  authorities  to  build  a  belt  of  still  stronger  forts,  which 
surrounds  the  old  fortress  of  1870  like  a  protective  net.  The 
forts,  redoubts  and  batteries  belonging  to  this  last  belt  of 
fortifications  are  situated  at  least  two  miles  from  the  city 
limits  proper,  and  even  Versailles  is  taken  into  this  belt  of 
fortifications. 

The  circumference  of  the  circle  formed  by  them  is  124 
kilometers  (nearly  77  miles)  and  the  space  included  in  it 
amounts  to  1,200  square  kilometers.  This  new  belt  of  fortifi- 
cations consists  of  seven  forts  of  the  first  class,  sixteen  forts 
of  the  second  class  and  fifty  redoubts  or  batteries,  which  are 
connected  with  each  other  by  the  ''Great  Belt  Line,"  of  113 
kilometers  (71  miles). 

FORM  LARGE  FORTIFIED  CAMPS 

The  strongest  of  these  forts  form  fortified  camps,  large 
enough  to  give  protection  to  strong  armies  and  also  the  pos- 
sibihty  for  a  new  reconcentration.  There  are  three  of  these 
camps.  The  northern  camp  includes  the  fortifications  from 
the  Fort  de  Cormeilles  on  the  left  to  the  Fort  de  Stains  on 
the  right  wing,  with  the  forts  of  the  first  class,  Cormeilles 
and  Domont,  and  the  forts  of  the  second  class,  Montlignon, 
Montmorency,  Ecouen  and  Stains,  and  it  is  protected  in  the 
rear  by  the  strong  forts  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Denis.  The 
eastern  camp  goes  from  the  Ourcq  canal  and  the  forest  of 
Bondy  to  the  Seine,  and  its  main  strongholds  are  the  forts  of 


GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS  169 

Vaujours  and  Villeneuve-St.  Georges,  with  the  smaller  forts 
of  Chelles,  Villiers,  Champigny  and  Sully. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine  the  southwestern  camp  is 
situated,  including  Versailles,  whose  main  forts  are  those  of 
St.  Cyr,  Haut-Buc,  Villeras  and  Palaiseau,  to  which  the  large 
redubt  of  Bois  d'Arcy  and  the  forts  of  Chatillon  and  Hautes- 
Bruyeres,  situated  a  little  to  the  rear,  belong  likewise.  ^ 

To  invest  this  strongest  fortress  of  tiie  world  the  line  of 
the  Germans  ought  to  have  a  length  of  175  kilometers  and  to 
its  continuous  occupation,  even  if  the  ring  of  the  investing 
masses  were  not  very  deep,  a  much  greater  number  of  troops 
would  be  necessary  than  were  used  in  1870  for  the  siege  of 
Paris. 

GERMAN  AMMUNITION  CAPTURED 

A  correspondent  at  Nanteuil,  September  12,  thus  described 
the  capture  of  a  German  ammunition  column  while  the  Ger- 
mans were  feeling  their  way  toward  Paris: 

''The  seven-kilometer  column  was  winding  its  way  along 
Crepy-en-Valois  when  General  Pau  sent  cavalry  and  artillery 
to  intercept  it.  The  column  was  too  weakly  guarded  to  cope 
with  the  attack,  and  so  was  captured  and  destroyed.  This 
capture  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  subsequent  fighting. 

**  A  noticeable  feature  of  the  operations  has  been  the  splen- 
did marching  quahties  of  the  French  troops.  This  was  dis- 
played especially  when  two  divisions,  which  were  sent  to 
intercept  the  expected  attempt  of  the  Germans  to  invest  Paris, 
covered  eighty  kilometers  (49i/^  miles)  in  two  stages." 

ALLIES  PLAN  TO  PROTECT  PARIS 

The  plan  of  the  Allies  on  September  1  was  to  make  a  deter- 
mined stand  before  Paris,  in  the  effort  to  protect  the  city  from 
the  horrors  of  a  siege.  With  their  left  wing  resting  on  the 
strongly  fortified  line  of  the  Paris  forts  and  with  their  right 
wing  strengthened  by  the  defensive  line  from  Verdun  to  Bel- 
fort,  they  would  occupy  a  position'  of  enormous  military 
strength.  If  the  Germans  concentrated  to  move  against  their 
front  the  French  reserve  armies  could  assemble  west  of  the 
Seine,  move  forward  and  attack  the  German  invading  columns 
in  flank. 


170 


GERMAN  ADVANCE  ON  PARIS 


If  in  their  effort  to  continue  the  great  turning  movement 
the  Germans  pushed  forward  across  the  Seine  and  attempted 
by  encircling  Paris  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  allied  armies,  the 
French  could  mass  their  reserve  corps  behind  their  center  at 
Bheims,  push  forward  against  the  weakened  German  center 
in  an  attack  that  if  successful  would  cut  off  the  German 
invading  columns  and  expose  them  to  annihilation. 

Such  were  the  conditions  and  the  possibilities  when  the 
German  advance  reached  its  climax  on  September  4. 


H  O  t  1  ^ 


POSITION  OF  HOSTILE  ARMIES,  SEPTEMBER  4.   1914 

Heavy  dotted  line  denotes  battle  front  of  the  Allies;  lighter  line  the  position 
of  the  German  Troops. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BATTLE  op:  THE  MARNE 

German  Plans  Suddenly  Changed — Direction  of  Advcmce 
Swings  to  the  Southeast  When  Close  to  the  French 
Capital — Successful  Resistance  hy  the  Allies — The 
Prolonged  Encounter  at  the  Marne — Germans  Retreat 
With  Allies  in  Hot  Pursuit  for  Many  Miles. 

SUDDENLY  the  German  plans  were  changed.  With  Paris 
ahnost  in  sight,  almost  within  the  range  of  their  heavy^ 
artillery,  the  German  forces  on  the  right  of  the  line  on 
September  4  changed  the  direction  of  their  advance  to  a 
southeasterly  course,  which  would  leave  Paris  to  the  west. 
The  people  of  the  gay  capital,  who  for  several  days  had  been 
preparing  themselves  once  more  for  the  thunder  of  the  Prus- 
sian guns,  began  to  breathe  more  freely,  while  al]  the  world 
wondered  at  the  sudden  and  spectacular  transformation  in 
the  conditions  of  the  conflict. 

What  had  happened?  Why  was  the  advance  thus  checked 
and  the  march  on  Paris  abandoned  ?  Was  it  a  trick,  designed 
to  lead  the  Allies  into  a  trap?  Or  were  the  German  troops 
too  exhausted  by  forced  marches  and  lack  of  rest  to  face  the 
determined  resistance  of  the  allied  forces  before  Paris? 

These  were  the  questions  on  every  tongue,  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantie,  while  the  military  experts  sought  strategic 
reasons  for  the  change  in  German  plans. 

When  the  movement  towards  the  east  began  the  right 
of  the  German  forces  moved  through  Beaumont  and  L'Isle 
towards  Meaux,  apparently  with  the  intention  of  avoiding 
Paris.  Their  front  some  twenty-four  hours  later  was  found 
to  be  extending  across  the  River  Marne  as  far  south  as  Qou- 

171 


172  '  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

lommiers  and  La  Ferte-Gaucher,  the  two  opposing  lines  at 
that  time  stretching  between  Paris  on  the  left  flank  and  Ver- 
dim  on  the  right. 

On  Monday,  September  7,  there  came  news  that  the  south- 
ward movement  of  the  German  army  had  been  arrested,  and 
that  it  had  been  forced  back  across  the  Marne  to  positions 
where  the  German  right  wing  curved  back  from  La  Ferte- 
sous-Jouarre  along  the  bank  of  the  River  Ourcq,  a  tributary 
of  the  Marne,  to  the  northward  of  Chateau  Thierry.  All  this 
territory  forms  part  of  the  district  known  as  the  ''Bassin  de 
Parish ' ' 

Then  came  a  turn  in  the  tide  of  war  and  the  German  plans 
were  temporarily  lost  sight  of  when  the  AlHes  assumed  the 
offensive  along  the  Marne  and  the  Ourcq  and  the  Germans 
began  to  fall  back.  For  four  days  their  retreat  continued. 
Ten  miles,  thirty  miles,  forty-five  miles,  back  toward  the 
northeast  and  east  the  invaders  retired  and  Paris  was 
relieved.  The  tide  of  battle  had  thrown  the  Germans  away 
from  the  French  capital  and  Frenchmen  believed  their  retire- 
ment was  permanent. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MAKNE 

Important  and  interesting  details  of  the  battle  of  the 
Marne  and  the  movements  that  preceded  it  are  given  in  an 
offitcial  report  compiled  from  information  sent  from  the  head- 
quarters of  Field  Marshal  Sir  John  French  (commander-in- 
chief  of  the  British  expeditionary  forces),  under  date  of  Sep- 
tember 11.  This  account  describes  the  movements  both  of 
the  British  force  and  of  the  French  armies  in  immediate 
touch  with  it.  It  carries  the  operations  from  the  4th  to  the 
10th  of  September,  both  days  inclusive,  and  says: 

**The  general  position  of  our  troops  Sunday,  September  6, 
was  south  of  the  Biver  Marne,  ^^th  the  French  forces  in  line 
on  our  right  and  left.  Practically  there  had  been  no  change 
since  Saturday,  September  5,  which  marked  the  end  of  our 
army's  long  retirement  from  the  Belgian  frontier  through 
Northern  France. 

**0n  Friday,  September  4,  it  became  apparent  that  there 
was  an  alteration  in  the  advance  of  almost  the  whole  of  the 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  173 

jfirst  German  army.  That  army  since  the  battle  near  Mons 
on  the  23d  of  August  had  been  playing  its  part  in  a  colossal 
strategic  endeavor  to  create  a  Sedan  for  the  Allies  by  out- 
flanking and  enveloping  the  left  of  their  whole  line  so  as  to 
encircle  and  drive  both  the  British  and  French  to  the  south. 

THE  CHANGE  IN   GERMAN   STRATEGY 

**  There  was  now  a  change  in  its  objective  and  it  was" 
observed  that  the  German  forces  opposite  the  British  were 
beginning  to  move  in  a  southeasterly  direction  instead  of  con- 
tinuing southwest  on  to  the  capital,  leaving  a  strong  rear 
guard  along  the  line  of  the  River  Ourcq  (which  flows  south  of 
and  joins  the  Marne  at  Lizy-sur-Ourcq)  to  keep  off  the  French 
Sixth  Army,  which  by  then  had  been  formed  and  was  to  the 
northwest  of  Paris.  They  were  evidently  executing  what 
amounted  to  a  flank  march  diagonally  across  our  front. 

*' Prepared  to  ignore  the  British  as  being  driven  out  of 
the  fight,  they  were  initiating  an  effort  to  attack  the  left  flank 
of  the  main  French  army,  which  stretched  in  a  long  curved 
line  from  our  right  toward  the  east,  and  so  to  carry  out 
against  it  alone  an  envelopment  which  so  far  had  failed 
against  the  combined  forces  of  the  Allies. 

''On  Saturday,  the  5th,  this  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
Germans  was  continued  and  large  advance  parties  crossed  the 
Marne  southward  at  Trilport,  Sammeron,  La  Ferte-sous- 
Jouarre  and  Chateau  Thierry.  There  was  considerable  fight- 
ing with  the  French  Fifth  Army  on  the  French  left,  which 
fell  back  from  its  position  south  of  the  Marne  toward  the 
Seine. 

**0n  Sunday  large  hostile  forces  crossed  the  Marne  and 
pushed  on  through  Coulommiers  and  past  the  British  right, 
farther  to  the  east.  They  were  attacked  at  night  by  the 
French  Fifth,  which  captured  three  villages  at  the  point  of 
bayonets. 

-^  ALLIES  TAKE  THE  OFFENSIVE 

*'0n  Monday,  September  7,  there  was  a  general  advance 
on  the  part  of  the  Allies.  In  this  quarter  of  the  field  our 
forces,  which  had  now  been  reinforced,  pushed  on  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  in  co-operation  with  the  advance  of  the 


174  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

French  Fifth  Army  to  the  north  and  of  the  French  Sixth 
Army  to  the  eastward  against  the  German  rearguard  along 
the  Eiver  Ourcq. 

**  Possibly  weakened  by  the  detachment  of  troops  to  the 
eastern  theater  of  operations  and  reaUzing  that  the  action  of 
the  French  Sixth  Army  against  the  line  of  Ourcq  and  the 
advance  of  the  British  placed  their  own  flanking  movement  in 
considerable  danger  of  being  taken  in  the  rear  and  on  its 
flank,  the  Germans  on  this  day  commenced  to  retire  toward 
the  northeast. 

''This  was  the  first  time  that  these  troops  had  turned  back 
since  their  attack  at  Mons  a  fortnight  before  and  from  reports 
received  the  order  to  retreat  when  so  close  to  Paris  was  a 
bitter  disappointment.  From  letters  found  on  dead  soldiers 
there  is  no  doubt  there  was  a  general  impression  among  the 
enemy's  troops  that  they  were  about  to  enter  Paris. 

GEKMAN  EETREAT  IS  HASTENED 

"On  Tuesday,  September  8,  the  German  movement  north- 
eastward was  continued.  Their  rear  guards  on  the  south  of 
the  Marne  were  being  pressed  back  to  that  river  by  our  troops 
and  by  the  French  on  our  right,  the  latter  capturing  three 
villages  after  a  hand-to-hand  fight  and  the  infliction  of  severe 
loss  on  the  enemy. 

' '  The  fighting  along  the  Ourcq  continued  on  this  day  and 
was  of  the  most  sanguinary  character,  for  the  Germans  had 
massed  a  great  force  of  artillery  along  this  line.  Very  few 
of  their  infantry  were  seen  by  the  French.  The  French  Fifth 
Army  also  made  a  fierce  attack  on  the  Germans  in  Montmirail, 
regaining  that  place. 

''On  Wednesday,  September  9,  the  battle  between  the 
French  Sixth  Army  and  what  was  now  the  German  flank 
guard  along  the  Ourcq  continued. 

"The  British  corps,  overcoming  some  resistance  on  the 
River  Petit  Morin,  crossed  the  Marne  in  pursuit  of  the  Ger- 
mans, who  now  were  hastily  retreating  northwest.  One  of 
our  corps  was  delayed  by  an  obstinate  defense  made  by  a 
strong  rear  guard  with  machine  guns  at  La  Ferte-sous- 
Jouarre,  where  the  bridge  had  been  destroyed. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  175 

''On  Thursday,  September  10,  the  French  Sixth  Army 
continued  its  pressure  on  the  west  while  the  Fifth  Army  by 
forced  marches  reached  the  line  of  Chateau  Thierry  and  Dor- 
mans  on  the  Marne.  Our  troops  also  continued  the  pursuit 
on  the  north  of  the  latter  river  and  after  a  considerable 
amount  of  fighting  captured  some  1,500  prisoners,  four  guns, 
six  machine  guns  and  fifty  transport  wagons. 

"Many  of  the  enemy  were  killed  or  wounded  and  the  nu- 
merous thick  woods  which  dot  the  country  north  of  the  Marne 
are  filled  with  German  stragglers.  Most  of  them  appear  to 
have  been  without  food  for  at  least  two  daj^s. 

''Indeed,  in  this  area  of  the  operations,  the  Germans  seem 
to  be  demoralized  and  inclined  to  surrender  in  small  parties. 
The  general  situation  appears  to  be  most  favorable  to  the 
Allies. 

"Much  brutal  and  senseless  damage  has  been  done  in  the 
villages  occupied  by  the  enemy.  Property  has  been  wantonly 
destroyed.  Pictures  in  chateaus  have  been  ripped  up  and 
houses  generally  have  been  pillaged. 

"It  is  stated  on  unimpeachable  authority  also  that  the 
inhabitants  have  been  much  ill-treated. 

TRAPPED  IN  A  SUNKEN  ROAD 

"Interesting  incidents  have  occurred  during  the  fighting. 
On  the  10th  of  September  part  of  our  Second  Army  CorpSy 
advancing  into  the  north,  found  itself  marching  parallel  with 
another  infantry  force  some  little  distance  away.  At  first  it 
was  thought  this  was  another  British  unit.  After  some  time, 
however,  it  was  discovered  that  it  was  a  body  of  Germans 
retreating. 

"Measures  promptly  were  taken  to  head  off  the  enemy, 
who  were  surrounded  and  trapped  in  a  sunken  road,  where 
over  400  men  surrendered. 

"On  September  10  a  small  party  uAder  a  noncommissioned 
officer  was  cut  off  and  surrounded.  After  a  desperate  resist- 
ance it  was  decided  to  go  on  fighting  to  the  end.  Finally  the 
noncommissioned  officer  and  one  man  only  were  left,  both  of 
them  being  wounded. 

"The  Germans  came  up  and  shouted  to  them:  'Lay  dowu 


176  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

your  arms!'  The  German  commander,  however,  signed  to 
them  to  keep  their  arms  and  then  asked  to  shake  hands  with 
the  wounded  noncommissioned  officer,  who  was  carried  off  on 
his  stretcher  with  his  rifle  by  his  side. 

** Arrival  of  reinforcements  and  the  continued  advance 
have  delighted  our  troops,  who  are  full  of  zeal  and  anxious  to 
press  on. 

SUCCESS  OF  THE  FLYING  CORPS 

"One  of  the  features  of  the  campaign  on  our  side  has  been 
the  success  obtained  by  the  Eoyal  Flying  Corps.  In  regard  to 
the  collection  of  information  it  is  impossible  either  to  award 
too  much  praise  to  our  aviators  for  the  way  they  have  car- 
ried out  their  duties  or  to  overestimate  the  value  of  the  intelli- 
gence collected,  more  especially  during  the  recent  advance. 

'*In  due  course  certain  examples  of  what  has  been  effected 
may  be  specified  and  the  far-reaching  nature  of  the  results 
fully  explained,  but  that  time  has  not  arrived. 

**That  the  services  of  our  Flying  Corps,  w^hich  has  really 
been  on  trial,  are  fully  appreciated  by  our  allies  is  shown  by 
the  following  message  from  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
French  armies,  received  September  9  by  Field  Marshal  Lord 
Kitchener : 

*'  'Please  express  most  particularly  to  Marshal  French 
my  thanks  for  the  services  rendered  on  every  day  by  the 
English  flying  corps.  The  precision,  exactitude  and  regu- 
larity of  the  news  brought  in  by  its  members  are  evidence  of 
their  perfect  organization  and  also  of  the  perfect  training 
of  the  pilots  and  the  observers. — Joseph  Joffre,  General.' 

**To  give  a  rough  idea  of  the  amount  of  work  carried  out 
it  is  sufficient  to  mention  that  during  a  period  of  twenty  days 
up  to  the  10th  of  September  a  daily  average  of  more  than  nine 
reconnaissance  flights  of  over  100  miles  each  has  been  main- 
tained. 

YITE.  GERMAN  PH,0TS  SHOT 

**The  constant  object  of  our  aviators  has  been  to  effect  an 
accurate  location  of  the  enemy's  forces  and,  incidentally, 
since  the  operations  cover  so  large  an  area,  of  our  own  units. 
Nevertheless,  the  tactics  adopted  for  dealing  with  hostile  air 
craft  are  to  attack  them  instantly  with  one  or  more  British 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  177 

macliines.  This  has  been  so  far  successful  that  in  five  cases 
German  pilots  or  observers  have  been  shot  while  in  the  air 
and  their  machines  brought  to  ground. 

**  As  a  consequence  the  British  Flying  Corps  has  succeeded 
in  estabhshing  an  individual  ascendancy  which  is  as  service- 
able to  us  as  it  is  dangerous  to  the  enemy. 

**How  far  it  is  due  to  this  cause  it  is  not  possible  at  present 
to  ascertain  definitely,  but  the  fact  remains  that  the  enemy 
have  recently  become  much  less  enterprising  in  their  flights. 
Something  in  the  direction  of  the  mastery  of  the  air  already 
has  been  gained  in  pursuance  of  the  principle  that  the  main 
object  of  military  aviators  is  the  collection  of  information. 

''Bomb  dropping  has  not  been  indulged  in  to  any  great 
extent.  On  one  occasion  a  petrol  bomb  was  successfully 
exploded  in  a  German  bivouac  at  night,  while  from  a  diary 
found  on  a  dead  German  cavalry  soldier  it  has  been  discov- 
ered that  a  high  explosive  bomb,  thrown  at  a  cavalry  column 
from  one  of  our  aeroplanes,  struck  an  ammunition  wagon, 
resulting  in  an  explosion  which  killed  fifteen  of  the  enemy. '  *" 


LOSSES  AT  THE  MAENE  ENORMOUS 

Some  idea  of  the  terrific  character  of  the  fighting  at  the 
Marne  and  of  the  great  losses  in  the  prolonged  battle  may  be 
gained  from  the  following  story,  telegraphed  on  September  14 
by  a  correspondent  who  followed  in  the  rear  of  the  allied 
army: 

"General  von  Kluck's  host  in  coming  down  over  the 
Marne  and  the  Grand  Morin  rivers  to  Sezanne,  twenty-five 
itjiles  southwest  of  Epemay,  met  little  opposition,  and  I 
believe  little  opposition  was  intended.  The  Allies,  in  fact, 
led  tl/eir  opponents  straight  into  a  trap.  The  English  cavalry 
led  the  tired  Germans  mile  after  mile,  and  the  Germans 
believed  the  Englishmen  were  running  away.  When  the  tre- 
mendous advance  reached  Provins'  the  Allies'  plan  was. 
accomplished,  and  it  got  no  farther. 

"Fighting  Sunday,  September  6,  was  of  a  terrible  char- 
acter, and  began  at  dawn  in  the  region  of  La  Ferte-Gaucher. 
Xhe  Allies'  troops,  who  were  drawn  up  to  receive  the  Ger- 
mans, understood  it  would  be  their  duty  to  hold  on  their  very 


178  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

best  that  the  attacking  force  at  Meaux  might  achieve  its  task 
in  security.    The  battle  lasted  all  night  and  until  late  Monday. 

"The  Germany  artillery  fire  was  very  severe,  but  not 
accurate.  The  French  and  English  fought  sternly  on  and 
slowly  beat  the  enemy  back. 

''Attempts  of  the  Germans  to  cross  the  Mame  at  Meaux 
entailed  terrible  losses.  Sixteen  attempts  were  foiled  by  the 
French  artillery  fire  directed  on  the  river  and  in  one  trench 
600  dead  Germans  were  counted. 

COUNTBY  STREWN  WITH  DEAD 

* '  The  whole  country  was  strewn  with  the  dead  and  dying. 
When  at  last  the  Germans  retired  they  slackened  their  rifle 
fire  and  in  once  place  retired  twelve  miles  without  firing  a 
single  shot.  One  prisoner  declared  that  they  were  short  of 
ammunition  and  had  been  told  to  spare  it  as  much  as 
possible. 

''Monday  saw  a  tremendous  encounter  on  the  Ourcq.  In 
one  village,  which  the  Germans  hurriedly  vacated,  the  French 
in  a  large  house  found  a  dinner  table  beautifully  set,  with 
candles  still  burning  on  the  table,  where  evidently  the  German 
staff  had  been  dining.  A  woman  occupant  said  they  fled  pre- 
cipitately. 

"There  was  a  great  deal  of  hand-to-hand  fighting  and 
bayonet  work  on  the  Ourcq,  which  resulted  in  the  terrible 
Magdeburg  regiment  beating  a  retreat. 

"Monday  night  General  von  Kluck's  army  had  been 
thrown  back  from  the  Mame  and  from  the  Morin  and  to  the 
region  of  Sezanne  and  his  position  was  serious.  Immediate 
steps  were  necessary  to  save  his  line  of  communications  and 
retreat.  To  this  end  reinforcements  were  hurried  north  to 
the  Meaux  district  and  the  Ourcq  and  tremendous  efforts  were 
made  to  break  up  the  French  resistance  in  this  section. 

GERMAN   GUNS  ARE   SILENCED 

"The  second  attempt  on  the  Ourcq  shared  the  fate  of  the 
first.  Though  all  Monday  night  and  well  on  into  Tuesday 
the  great  German  guns  boomed  along  this  river,  the  resistance 
of  the  allies  could  not  be  broken.  'Hold  on!'  was  the  com- 
mand and  every  man  braced  himself  to  obey.     While  the 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MAENE  179 

Ourcq  was  being  held  the  struggle  of  Sezanne  was  bearing 
fruit. 

*'The  German  resistance  on  Thursday  morning  was 
broken.  I  heard  the  news  in  two  ways:  from  the  silence  of 
the  German  guns  and  from  the  wounded  who  poured  down  to 
the  bases. 

' '  The  wounded  men  no  longer  were  downhearted,  but  eager 
to  rejoin  the  fray.  On  every  French  lip  was  the  exclamation 
that  'They  are  in  full  retreat!'  and  'They  are  rushing  back 
home ! '  and  in  the  same  breath  came  generous  recognition  of 
the  great  help  given  by  the  British  army. 

* '  The  number  of  wounded  entailed  colossal  transportation 
work.  I  counted  fifteen  trains  in  eight  hours.  A  fine,  grim 
set  of  men,  terribly  weary  but  amiable,  except  for  the  ofiS.eers. 

GERMANS  LEAVE  SPOILS  BEHIND 

*'The  enemy  crossed  the  Marne  on  the  return  journey 
north  under  great  difficulties  and  beneath  a  withering  fire 
from  the  British  troops,  who  pursued  them  hotly.  The  Ger- 
man artillery  operated  from  a  height.  There  was  again  much 
hand-to-hand  fighting  and  the  river  was  swollen  with  dead. 

**  Tuesday  night  the  British  were  in  possession  of  La  Ferte- 
sous-Jouarre  and  Chateau  Thierry  and  the  Germans  had 
fallen  back  forty  miles,  leaving  a  long  train  of  spoils  behind 
them. 

''On  the  same  day,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Vitry-le-Fran- 
cois, the  French  troops  achieved  a  victory.  Incidentally  they 
drove  back  the  famous  Imperial  Guard  of  Germany  from 
Sezanne,  toward  the  sv/amps  of  Saint  Gond,  where,  a  century 
ago.  Napoleon  achieved  one  of  his  last  successes.  The  main 
body  of  the  guard  passed  to  the  north  of  the  swamps,  but  I 
heard  of  men  and  horses  engulfed  and  destroyed. 

"  'It  is  our  revenge  for  1814,'  the  French  officers  said. 
*  If  only  the  emperor  were  here  to  see. ' 

BRITISH   KEEP  UP  PURSUIT 

"Wednesday  the  English  army  continued  the  pursuit  to- 
ward the  north,  taking  guns  and  prisoners. 

'^On  that  day  I  found  myself  in  a  new  France.    The  good 


180  BATTLE  OF  THE  MABNE 

news  had  spread.  Girls  threw  flowers  at  the  passing  soldiers 
and  joy  was  manifested  everywhere. 

' '  The  incidents  of  Wednesday  will  astound  the  world  when 
made  known  in  full.  I  know  that  two  German  detachments  of 
1,000  men  each,  which  were  surrounded  and  cornered  but 
which  refused  to  surrender,  were  wiped  out  almost  to  the  last 
man.  The  keynote  of  these  operations  was  the  tremendous 
attack  of  the  Allies  along  the  Ourcq  Tuesday,  which  showed 
the  German  commander  that  his  lines  were  threatened.  Then 
came  the  crowning  stroke. 

**The  army  of  the  Ourcq  and  of  Meaux  and  the  army  of 
Sezanne  drew  together  like  the  blades  of  a  pair  of  shears,  the 
pivot  of  which  was  in  the  region  of  the  Grand  Morin.  The 
German  retreat  was  thus  forced  toward  the  east  and  it  speed- 
ily became  a  rout." 


BETEEAT  SEEN  FROM  THE  SKY 

The  best  view  of  the  retreating  German  armies  was 
obtained,  according  to  a  Paris  report,  by  a  French  military 
airman,  who,  ascending  from  a  point  near  Vitry,  flew  north- 
ward across  the  Marne  and  then  eastward  by  way  of  Rheims 
down  to  the  region  of  Verdun  and  back  again  in  a  zigzag 
course  to  a  spot  near  Soissons. 

He  saw  the  German  hosts  not  merely  in  retreat,  but  in 
flight,  and  in  some  places  in  disorderly  flight. 

*'It  was  a  wonderful  sight,"  the  airman  said,  *'to  look 
down  upon  these  hundreds  and  thousands  of  moving  military 
columns,  the  long  gray  lines  of  the  Kaiser's  picked  troops, 
some  marching  in  a  northerly,  others  in  a  northeasterly  direc- 
tion, and  all  moving  with  a  tremendous  rapidity. 

* '  The  retreat  was  not  confined  to  the  highways,  but  many 
German  soldiers  were  running  across  fields,  jumping  over 
fences,  crawling  through  hedges,  and  making  their  way 
through  woods  without  any  semblance  of  order  or  discipline. 

''These  men  doubtless  belonged  to  regiments  which  were 
badly  cut  up  in  the  fierce  fighting  which  preceded  the  general 
retreat.  Deprived  of  the  majority  of  their  officers,  they  made 
a  mere  rabble  of  fugitives.    Many  were  without  rifles,  having 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  181! 

abandoned   then*   weapons   in   their   haste   to   escape    their 
French  and  British  pursuers. '^ 

GEKMANS  ABANDON"  GUNS 

The  London  Times  correspondent  describes  the  German 
retreat  in  a  hurricane,  with  rain  descending  in  torrents^  the 
wayside  brooks  swollen  to  little  torrents. 

*'The  gun  wheels  sank  deep  in  the  mud,  and  the  soldiers, 
unable  to  extricate  them,  abandoned  the  guns,"  he  said. 

**A  wounded  soldier,  returned  from  the  front,  told  me 
that  the  Germans  fled  as  animals  flee  which  are  cornered  and 
know  it. 

*' Imagine  the  roadway  littered  with  guns,  knapsacks,  car- 
tridge belts,  Maxims  and  heavy  cannon.  There  were  miles  of 
roads  hke  this. 

''And  the  dead!  Those  piles  of  horses  and  those  stacks 
of  men  I  have  seen  again  and  again.  I  have  seen  men  shot  so 
close  to  one  another  that  they  remained  standing  after  death. 

''At  night  time  the  sight  was  horrible  beyond  description. 
They  cannot  bury  whole  armies. 

"In  the  day  time  over  the  fields  of  dead  carrion  birds 
gathered,  led  by  the  gray-throated  crow  of  evil  omen  with  a 
host  of  lesser  marauders  at  his  back.  Bobbers,  too,  have 
descended  upon  these  fields. 

"Trainload  after  trainload  of  British  and  French  troops 
swept  toward  the  weak  points  of  the  retreating  host. 

"The  Allies  benefited  by  this  advantage  of  the  battle- 
gound ;  there  is  a  network  of  railways,  like  the  network  of  a 
spider's  web." 

FIGHTING  DESCRIBED  BY  U.  S.  OFFICEES 

Two  military  attaches  of  the  United  States  embassy  at 
Paris,  Lieut.-Col.  H.  T.  Allen  and  Capt.  Frank  Parker,  both 
of  the  Eleventh  cavalry,  U.  S.  A.,  returned  on  September  15 
from  an  automobile  trip  over  the  battlefield  where  from  Sep- 
tember 8  until  the  night  of  September  11  the  French  and 
Germans  were  fiercely  engaged.  This  battle  was  the  one 
which  assured  the  safety  of  Paris. 

On  September  1  the  German  left  and  center  were  sep- 
arated, but  like  a  letter  "V"  were  approaching  each  other, 


182  BATTLE  OTJ\  THE  MARNE 

with  Paris  as  their  objective.  Had  the  Allies  attacked  at 
that  time  they  would  have  had  to  divide  their  forces  and,  so 
weakened,  give  battle  to  two  armies.  By  retreating  they 
drew  after  them  the  two  converging  lines  of  the  V  and  when 
the  Germans  were  in  wedge-shaped  formation,  attacked  them 
on  the  flank  and  center  at  Meaux  and  made  a  direct  attack  at 
Sezanne. 

The  four  days'  battle  at  Meaux  ended  with  the  Germans 
crossing  the  river  Aisne  and  retreating  to  the  hills  north  and 
west  of  Soissons.  Col.  Allen  and  Capt.  Parker  saw  the  end  of 
the  battle  north  of  Sezanne,  which  resulted  in  the  retreat  of 
the  Germans  to  Eheims. 

The  battles,  as  Col.  Allen  and  Capt.  Parker  describe  them, 
were  as  follows: 

On  the  8th  the  Germans  advanced  from  a  line  stretching 
from  Epernay  and  Chalons,  a  distance  of  twenty-five  kilome- 
ters (sixteen  miles).  In  this  front,  counting  from  the  German 
right,  were  the  Tenth,  the  Guards,  the  Ninth  and  Twelfth 
Army  Corps.  The  presence  of  the  Guards,  the  corps  d' elite 
of  the  German  army,  suggested  that  this  was  intended  to  be  a 
main  attack  upon  Paris  and  that  the  army  at  Meaux  was  to 
occupy  the  center.  The  four  combined  corps  numbered  over 
200,000.    The  French  met  them,  they  assert,  with  190,000. 

The  Germans  advanced  until  their  left  was  at  Vitry-le- 
Francois  and  their  right  rested  at  Sezanne,  making  a  column 
15  miles  long,  headed  west  toward  Paris.  The  French  butted 
the  line  six  miles  east  of  Sezanne,  in  the  forests  of  La  Fere 
and  Champenoise.  It  was  here  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
fight  occurred.  It  was  fighting  at  long  distance  with  artillery 
and  from  trench  to  trench  with  the  bayonet. 

THIETY    THOUSAND    MEN    KILLED 

During  the  four  days  in  which  fortune  rested  first  on  one 
flag  and  then  on  another  30,000  men  of  both  armies  are  said 
to  have  been  killed  and  a  considerable  number  of  villages  were 
wiped  from  the  map  by  the  artillery  of  both  armies. 

Two  miles  from  Sezanne  a  French  regiment  was  destroyed 
by  an  ambush.  The  Germans  had  thrown  up  conspicuous 
trenches  and  with  decoys  sparsely  filled  them.  From  the 
forest  in  the  rear  the  mitrailleuse  was  trained  on  the  French. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  183 

The  Frencli  infantry  charged  this  trench  and  the  decoys  fled, 
making  toward  the  flanks,  and  as  the  French  poured  over  the 
trenches  the  hidden  guns  swept  them. 

In  another  trench  the  Arnericaa  attaches  counted  the 
bodies  of  more  than  900  German  guards,  not  one  of  whom  had 
attempted  to  retreat.  They  had  stood  fast  with  their  shoul- 
ders against  the  parapet  and  taken  the  cold  steel.  Every- 
where the  loss  of  life  was  appalling.  In  places  the  dead  lay 
across  each  other  three  and  four  deep. 

TUECOS  FIEECEST  FIGHTEES  OF  ALL 

''The  fiercest  fighting  of  all  seems  to  have  been  done  by 
the  Turcos  and  Senegalese.  In  trenches  taken  by  them  from 
the  guards  and  the  famous  Death's  Head  Hussars,  the  Ger- 
mans showed  no  bullet  wounds.  In  nearly  every  attack  the 
men  from  the  desert  had  flung  themselves  upon  the  enemy, 
using  only  the  butt  or  the  bayonet.  Man  for  man  no  white 
man  drugged  for  years  with  meat  and  alcohol  is  a  physical 
match  for  these  Turcos,  who  eat  dates  and  drink  water, '* 
said  Richard  Harding  Davis,  who  saw  the  end  of  the  fighting 
at  Meaux.  * '  They  are  as  lean  as  starved  wolves.  They  move 
like  panthers.  They  are  muscle  and  nerves  and  they  have  the 
warrior's  disregard  of  their  own  personal  safety  in  battle, 
and  a  perfect  scorn  of  the  foe. 

*'As  Kipling  says,  *A  man  who  has  a  sneaking  desire  to 
live  has  a  poor  chance  against  one  who  is  indifferent  whether 
he  kills  you  or  you  kill  him.'  " 


NIGHT  BATTLE  DESCEIBED  BY  SOLDIER 

The  following  narrative  of  a  night  engagement  during  the 
prolonged  battle  of  the  Marne  is  quoted  from  a  French  sol- 
dier 's  letter  to  a  compatriot  in  London : 

''Our  strength  was  about  400  infantrymen.  Toward  mid- 
night we  broke  up  our  camp  and  marched  off  in  great  silence, 
of  course  not  in  closed  files,  but  in  open  order.    We  were  not 


184  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

allowed  to  speak  to  each  other  or  to  make  any  unnecessary 
noise,  and  as  we  walked  through  the  forest  the  only  sound 
to  be  heard  was  that  of  our  steps  and  the  rustling  of  the 
leaves.  It  was  a  perfectly  lovely  night ;  the  sky  was  so  clear, 
the  atmosphere  so  pure,  the  forest  so  romantic,  everything 
seemed  so  charming  and  peaceful  that  I  could  not  imagine 
that  we  were  on  the  warpath,  and  that  perhaps  in  a  few  hours 
this  forest  would  be  aflame,  the  soil  drenched  by  human  blood, 
and  the  fragrant  herbs  covered  with  broken  limbs. 

**Yet  all  those  silent,  armed  men,  marching  in  the  same 
direction  as  I  did,  w^ere  ever  so  many  proofs  that  no  peace 
meeting  or  any  delightful  romantic  adventure  was  near,  and 
I  wondered  what  thoughts  were  stirring  all  those  brains. 
Suddenly  a  whisper  passed  on  from  man  to  man.  It  was  the 
ofificer's  command.  A  halt  was  made,  and  in  the  same  whisper 
we  were  told  that  part  of  us  had  to  change  our  direction  so 
that  the  two  directions  would  form  a  V.  A  third  division  pro- 
ceeded slowly  in  the  original  direction. 

COMMANDS  ARE  WHISPERED 

**I  belonged  to  what  may  be  called  the  left  leg  of  the  V. 
After  what  seemed  to  be  about  half  an  hour,  we  reached  the 
edge  of  the  forest,  and  from  behind  the  trees  we  saw  an  almost 
flat  country  before  us,  with  here  and  there  a  tiny  little  hill,  a 
mere  hump  four  or  five  feet  high.  On  the  extreme  left-hand 
side  the  land  seemed  to  be  intersected  by  ditches  and  trenches^ 

*' Another  whispered  command  was  passed  from  man  to 
man,  and  we  all  had  to  lie  down  on  the  soil.  A  moment  after- 
ward we  were  thus  making  our  way  to  the  above-mentioned 
ditches  and  trenches.  It  is  neither  the  easiest  nor  the  quickest 
way  to  move,  but  undoubtedly  the  safest,  for  an  occasional 
enemy  somewhere  on  the  hills  at  the  farther  end  of  the  field 
would  not  possibly  be  able  to  detect  us.  I  don't  know  how 
long  it  took  us  to  reach  the  ditches,  which  were,  for  the  greater 
part,  dry ;  nor  do  I  know  how  long  we  remained  there  or  what 
was  happening.  We  were  perfectly  hidden  from  view,  lying 
flat  down  on  our  stomachs,  but  we  were  also  unable  to  see  any- 
thing. Everybody's  ears  were  attentive,  every  nerve  was. 
strained.    The  sun  was  rising.    It  prow.sed  tp  be  a  hot  day. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  185 

riEST   SHOT  IS   HEAED 

**  Suddenly  we  heard  a  shot,  at  a  distance  of  what  seemed 
to  be  a  mile  or  so,  followed  by  several  other  shots.  I  ventured 
to  lift  my  body  up  in  order  to  see  what  was  happening.  But 
the  next  moment  my  sergeant,  who  was  close  by  me,  warned 
me  with  a  knock  on  my  shoulder  not  to  move,  and  the  whis- 
pered order  ran,  *  Keep  quiet !  Hide  yourself ! '  Still,  the  short 
glance  had  been  sufficient  to  see  what  was  going  on.  Our 
troops,  probably  those  who  had  been  left  behind  in  the  forest, 
were  crossing  the  plain  and  shooting  at  the  Germans  on  the 
crest  of  the  hill,  who  returned  the  fire. 

* '  The  silence  was  gone.  We  heard  the  rushing  of  feet  at 
a  short  distance ;  then,  suddenly,  it  ceased  when  the  attacking 
soldiers  dropped  to  aim  and  shoot.  Some  firing  was  heard, 
and  then  again  a  swift  rush  followed.  This  seemed  to  last  a 
long  time,  but  it  was  broken  by  distant  cries,  coming  appar- 
ently from  the  enemy.  I  was  wondering  all  the  time  why  we 
kept  hidden  and  did  not  share  in  the  assault. 

* '  The  rifle  fire  was  incessant.  I  saw  nothing  of  the  battle. 
Would  our  troops  be  able  to  repulse  the  Germans?  How 
strong  were  the  enemy!  They  seemed  to  have  no  guns,  but 
the  number  of  our  soldiers  in  that  field  was  not  very  large. 

ATTACKED  WITH  BAYONETS 

"A  piercing  yell  rose  from  the  enemy.  Was  it  a  cry  of 
triumph?  A  short  command  rang  over  the  field  in  French, 
an  order  to  retreat.  A  swift  rush  followed ;  our  troops  were 
being  pursued  by  the  enemy.  What  on  earth  were  we  waiting 
for  in  our  ditches?  A  bugle  signal,  clear  and  bright.  We 
sprang  to  our  feet,  and  *At  the  bayonet!'  the  order  came. 
We  threw  ourselves  on  the  enemy,  who  were  at  the  same  time 
attacked  on  the  other  side  by  the  division  which  formed  the 
other  'leg'  of  the  V,  while  the  'fleeing'  French  soldiers  turned 
and  made  a  savage  attack.  i 

*'It  is  impossible  to  say  or  to  describe  what  one  feels  at 
such  a  moment.  I  believe  one  is  in  a  state  of  temporary  mad- 
ness, of  perfect  rage.  It  is  terrible,  and  if  we  could  see  our- 
selves in  such  a  state  I  feel  sure  we  would  shrink  with  horror. 

"In  a  few  minutes  the  field  was  covered  with  dead  and 
wounded  men,  almost  all  of  them  Germans,  and  our  hands 


186  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

and  bayonets  were  dripping  with  blood.  I  felt  hot  spurts  of 
blood  in  my  face,  of  other  men's  blood,  and  as  I  paused  to 
wipe  them  off,  I  saw  a  narrow  stream  of  blood  running  along 
the  barrel  of  my  rifle. 

''Such  was  the  beginning  of  a  summer  day." 


SCENES  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

Writing  from  Sezanne  a  few  days  after  the  battle  of  the 
Marne  a  visitor  to  the  battlefield  described  the  conditions  at 
that  time  as  follows: 

"The  territory  over  which  the  battle  of  the  Marne  was 
fought  is  now  a  picture  of  devastation,  abomination  and  death 
almost  too  awful  to  describe. 

''Many  sons  of  the  fatherland  are  sleeping  their  last  sleep 
in  the  open  fields  and  in  ditches  where  they  fell  or  under 
hedges  where  they  crawled  after  being  caught  by  a  rifle  bullet 
or  piece  of  shell,  or  where  they  sought  shelter  from  the  mad 
rush  of  the  franc-tireurs,  who  have  not  lost  their  natural  dex- 
terity with  the  knife  and  who  at  close  quarters  frequently 
throw  away  their  rifles  and  fight  hand  to  hand. 

"The  German  prisoners  are  being  used  on  the  battlefield 
in  searching  for  and  burying  their  dead  comrades.  Over  the 
greater  part  of  the  huge  battlefield  there  have  been  buried 
at  least  those  who  died  in  open  trenches  on  the  plateaus  or  on 
the  high  roads.  The  extensive  forest  area,  however,  has 
hardly  been  searched  for  bodies,  although  hundreds  of  both 
French  and  Germans  must  have  sought  refuge  and  died  there. 
The  difficulty  of  finding  bodies  is  considerable  on  account  of 
the  undergrowth. 

"Long  lines  of  newly  broken  brown  earth  mark  the 
graves  of  the  victims.  SDme  of  these  burial  trenches  are  150 
yards  long.  The  dead  are  placed  shoulder  to  shoulder  and 
often  in  layers.  This  gives  some  idea  of  the  slaughter  that 
took  place  in  this  battle. 

"The  peasants,  w^ho  are  rapidly  coming  back  to  the  soene, 
are  marking  the  grave  trenches  with  crosses  and  planting 
flowers  above  or  placing  on  thorn  simple  bouquets  of  dahlias, 
sunflpwers  an«l  rosea. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  187 

POUGHT  OX  BEAUTIFUL  CHATEAU  LAWNS 

' '  Some  of  the  hottest  fighting  of  the  prolonged  battle  took 
place  around  the  beautiful  chateau  of  Mondement,  on  a  hill 
six  miles  east  of  Sezanne.  This  relic  of  the  architectural  art 
of  Louis  XIV  occupied  a  position  which  both  sides  regarded 
as  strategically  important. 

''To  the  east  it  looked  down  into  a  great  declivity  in  the 
shape  of  an  immense  Greek  lamp,  with  the  concealed  marshes 
of  St.  Sond  at  the  bottom.  Beyond  are  the  downs  and  heaths 
of  Epernay,  Eheims  and  Champagne,  while  the  heights  of 
Argonne  stand  out  boldly  in  the  distance.  To  the  west  is  a 
rich  agricultural  country. 

"The  possession  of  the  ridge  of  Mondement  was  vital  to 
either  the  attackers  or  the  defenders.  The  conflict  here  was 
of  furnace  intensity  for  four  days.  The  Germans  drove  the 
French  out  in  a  terrific  assault,  and  then  the  French  guns 
were  brought  to  bear,  followed  by  hand-to-hand  fighting  on 
the  gardens  and  lawns  of  the  chateau  and  even  through  the 
breached  walls. 

' '  Frenchmen  again  held  the  building  for  a  few  hours,  only 
to  retire  before  another  determined  German  attack.  On  the 
fourth  day  they  swept  the  Germans  out  again  with  shell  fire, 
under  which  the  walls  of  the  chateau,  although  two  or  three 
feet  thick,  crumpled  like  paper." 

The  same  correspondent  described  evidences  on  the  battle- 
fields of  how  abundantly  the  Germans  were  equipped  with 
ammunition  and  other  material.  He  saw  pyramid  after  pyra- 
mid of  shrapnel  shells  abandoned  in  the  rout,  also  innumer- 
able paniers  for  carrjring  such  ammunition.  These  paniers 
are  carefully  constructed  of  wicker  and  hold  three  shells  in 
exactly  fitting  tubes  so  that  there  can  be  no  movement. 

The  villages  of  Oyes,  Villeneuve,  Chatillon  and  Soizy-aux- 
Bois  were  all  bombarded  and  completely  destroyed.  Some 
fantastic  capers  were  played  by  the  shells,  such  as  blowing 
away  half  a  house  and  leaving  the  other  half  intact;  going 
through  a  window  and  out  by  the  back  wall  without  damaging 
the  interior,  or  goin^  a  few  inches  into  the  wall  and  remaining 
fast  without  exploding. 

Villeneuve,  which  was  retaken  three  times,  was,  including 
its  fine  old  church,  in  absolute  r^^ins. 


188  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

A  SERIES  OF  BATTLES 

The  battle  line  along  the  Marne  was  so  extended  that  the 
four-days'  fighting  from  Sunday,  September  6,  to  Thursday 
morning,  September  10,  when  the  Germans  were  in  full 
retreat,  comprised  a  series  of  bloody  engagements,  each 
worthy  of  being  called  a  battle.  There  were  hot  encounters 
south  of  the  Marne  at  Crecy,  Montmirail  and  other  points. 
At  Chalons-sur-Marne  the  French  fought  for  twenty-four 
hours  and  inflicted  heavy  losses  on  the  enemy.  General  Exel- 
mans,  one  of  France's  most  brilliant  cavalry  leaders,  was 
dangerously  wounded  in  leading  a  charge. 

There  was  hard  fighting  on  September  7  between  Lagny 
and  Meaux,  on  the  Trilport  and  Crecy-en-Brie  line,  the  Ger- 
mans under  General  von  Kluck  being  compelled  to  give  way 
and  retire  on  Meaux,  at  which  point  their  resistance  was 
broken  on  the  9th. 

General  French's  army  advanced  to  meet  the  German 
hosts  with  forced  marches  from  their  temporary  base  to  the 
southeast  of  Paris. 

The  whole  British  army,  except  cavalry,  passed  through 
Lagny,  and  the  incoming  troops  were  so  wearied  that  many 
of  them  at  the  first  opportunity  lay  down  in  the  dust  and 
slept  where  they  were. 

But  a  few  hours '  rest  worked  a  great  change,  and  a  little 
later  the  British  troops  were  following  the  German  retreat  up 
the  valley  with  bulldog  tenacity. 

The  British  artillery  did  notable  work  in  those  days, 
according  to  the  French  military  surgeons  who  were  stationed 
at  Lagny.  At  points  near  there  the  bodies  of  slain  Germans 
who  fell  before  the  British  gunners  still  littered  the  ground 
on  September  10,  and  the  grim  crop  was  still  hea\'ier  on  the 
soil  farther  up  the  valley,  where  the  fighting  was  more 
desperate. 

As  far  as  possible  the  bodies  were  buried  at  night,  each 
attending  to  its  own  fallen. 

MANY   SANGUINARY   INCIDENTS 

Sanguinary  incidents  were  plentiful  in  the  week  of  fight- 
ing to  the  south  of  the  Marne.  In  an  engagement  not  far 
from  Lagny  the  British  captured  thirty  Germans  who  had 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  181 

given  up  their  arms  and  were  standing  under  guard  when, 
encouraged  by  a  sudden  forward  effort  of  the  German  front, 
they  made  a  dash  for  their  rifles.  They  were  cut  down  by  a 
volley  from  their  British  guards  before  they  could  reach  their 
weapons. 

"Among  dramatic  incidents  in  the  fighting,"  according  to 
an  English  correspondent,  "may  be  mentioned  the  grim  work 
at  the  ancient  fishponds  near  Ermenonville.  These  ponds 
are  shut  in  by  high  trees.  Driving  the  enemy  through  the 
woods,  a  Scotch  regiment  hustled  its  foes  right  into  the 
fishponds,  the  Scotchmen  jumping  in  after  the  Germans  up  to 
the  middle  to  finish  them  in  the  water,  which  was  packed  with 
their  bodies." 

VAST  GRAVEYARD  AT  MEAUX 

Some  idea  of  how  the  Germans  were  harassed  by  artillery 
fire  during  their  retreat  was  obtained  on  a  visit  to  the  fields 
near  Meaux,  the  scene  of  severe  fighting.  The  German  in- 
fantry had  taken  a  position  in  a  sunken  road,  on  either  side 
of  which  were  stretched  in  extended  lines  hummocks,  some  of 
them  natural  and  some  the  work  of  spades  in  the  hands  of 
German  soldiers. 

The  sunken  road  was  littered  with  bodies.  Sprawling  in 
ghastly  fashion,  the  faces  had  almost  the  same  greenish-gray 
hue  as  the  uniforms  worn.  The  road  is  lined  with  poplars, 
the  branches  of  which,  severed  by  fragments  of  shells,  were 
strewn  among  the  dead.  In  places  whole  tops  of  trees  had 
been  torn  away  by  the  artillery  fire. 

Beside  many  bodies  were  forty  or  fifty  empty  cartridge 
shells,  while  fragments  of  clothing,  caps  and  knapsacks  were 
scattered  about.  This  destruction  was  wrought  by  batteries  a 
little  more  than  three  miles  distant.  Straggling  clumps  of 
wood  intervened  between  the  batteries  and  their  mark,  but  the 
range  had  been  determined  by  an  officer  on  an  elevation  a  mile 
from  the  gunners.  He  telephoned  directions  for  the  firing 
and  through  glasses  watched  the  bursting  shells. 

THE  BATTLE  AT  CEECY 

A  graphic  picture  of  the  fight  in  Crecy  wood  was  given 
by  a  correspondent  who  said ; 


190  BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE 

The  French  and  English  in  overwhehning  numbers  had 
poured  in  from  Lagny  toward  the  River  Marne  to  reinforce 
the  flanking  skirmishers.  One  of  the  smaller  woods  south- 
east of  Crecy  furnished  cover  for  the  enemy  for  a  time,  but 
led  to  their  undoing.  The  Allies'  patrols  discovered  them  in 
the  night  as  the  Germans  were  moving  about  with  lanterns. 

Suddenly  the  invaders  found  their  twinkling  glow-worms 
the  mark  for  a  foe  of  whom  they  had  been  unaware.  Without 
warning  a  midnight  hail  storm  from  Maxims  screamed 
through  the  trees.  The  next  morning  scores  of  lanterns  were 
picked  up  in  the  wood,  with  the  glasses  shattered.  A  dashing 
cavalry  charge  by  the  British  finally  cleared  the  tragic  wood 
of  the  Germans. 

BRITISH  BLOW  UP  A  BRIDGE 

At  Lagny  one  of  the  sights  of  the  town  was  a  shattered 
bridge,  which  was  blown  up  by  General  French  as  soon  as  he 
got  his  army  across  it.  At  that  time  British  infantry  and 
artillery  had  poured  through  the  town  and  over  the  bridge 
for  several  days.  General  French's  idea  was  to  keep  raiding 
detachments  of  German  cavalry  from  incursions  into  the 
beautiful  villas  and  gardens  of  the  western  suburbs. 

Fifteen  minutes  after  the  bridge  had  been  reduced  to  a 
twisted  mass  of  steel  and  broken  masonry  a  belated  order 
came  to  save  it,  but  the  British  engineers  who  had  received 
the  order  to  destroy  it  had  done  their  work  well. 

The  inhabitants  were  cleared  out  of  all  the  neighboring 
houses,  which  were  shaken  by  the  terrific  explosion  Avhen  the 
charge  was  set  off.  Every  window  in  the  nearby  houses  was 
shattered. 

The  people  of  Lagny  took  the  destruction  of  their  beautiful 
bridge  in  good  part.  They  were  too  grateful  for  their  deliv- 
erance from  the  Germans  to  grumble  about  the  wrecked 
bridge. 

GERMAN  LOSSES  AT  THE  MARNE 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  German  losses  in  the  engage- 
ments at  the  Marne  far  exceeded  those  of  the  Allies  and  were 
most  severe,  in  both  men  and  material.  The  Germans  made 
incredible  efforts  to  cross  the  Marne.  The  French  having 
destroyed  all  the  bridges,  the  Germans  tried  to  construct 


BATTLE  OF  THE  MARNE  191 

three  bridges  of  boats.  Sixteen  times  the  bridges  were  on 
the  point  of  completion,  but  each  time  they  were  reduced  to 
matchwood  by  the  French  artillery. 

*' There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt,"  said  a  reliable  corre- 
spondent, ''that  but  for  the  superb  handling  of  the  German 
right  by  General  von  Kluck,  a  large  part  of  Emperor  Wil- 
liam's forces  would  have  been  captured  at  the  Marne.  The 
allied  cavalry  did  wonders,  and  three  or  four  additional  divi- 
sions of  cavalry  could  have  contributed  towards  a  complete 
rout  of  the  Germans." 

The  general  direction  of  the  German  retirement  was  north- 
east, and  it  was  continued  for  seventy  miles,  to  a  line  drawn 
between  Soissons,  Eheims  and  Verdun. 

A  week  after  the  battle  the  field  around  Meaux  had  been 
cleared  of  dead  and  wounded,  and  only  little  mounds  with 
tiny  crosses,  flowers  and  tricolored  flags  recalled  the  terrible 
struggle. 

The  inhabitants  of  neighboring  villages  soon  returned  to 
their  homes  and  resumed  their  ordinary  occupations. 

FALL  OF   MAUBEUGE 

"While  the  fighting  at  the  Marne  was  in  progress,  German 
troops  achieved  some  successes  in  other  parts  of  the  theater 
of  war.  Thus,  the  fortified  French  town  of  Maubeuge,  on  the 
Sambre  river  midway  between  Namur  in  Belgium  and  St. 
Quentin,  France,  fell  to  the  Germans  on  September  7.  The 
investment  began  on  August  25.  More  than  a  thousand  shells 
fell  in  one  night  near  the  railway  station  and  the  Rue  de 
France  was  partially  destroyed.  The  loss  of  life,  however, 
was  comparatively  slight. 

At  11:50  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  September  7  a  white 
flag  was  hoisted  on  the  church  tower  and  trumpets  sounded 
* '  cease  firing, ' '  but  the  firing  only  ceased  at  3 :08  o  'clock  that 
afternoon.  In  the  meantime  the  greater  part  of  the  garrison 
succeeded  in  evacuating  the  town.  The  German  forces 
marched  in  at  7 :08  o  'clock  that  evening. 


The  retreat  of  the  German  forces  from  the  Marne  ended 
the  second  stage  of  the  great  war. 


CHAPTER  Xn 

THE  RUSSIAN  CAlSiPAIGN 

Slow  Mobilization  of  Troops — Invasion  of  German  and  Aus- 
trian Territory — Cossacks  Lead  the  Van — Early  Suc- 
cesses in  East  Prussia — "On  to  Berlin'' — Heavy 
Losses  Inflicted  on  Austrians — German  Troops  Rushed 
to  the  Defense  of  the  Eastern  Territory. 

WHEN  at  7:  30  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  August  1,  1914, 
the  German  Ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg  handed  the 
declaration  of  war  to  the  Russian  foreign  minister, 
the  immediate  reason  was  that  Russia  had  refused  to  stop 
mobilizing  her  army,  as  requested  by  Germany  on  July  30. 

The  general  mobilization  of  the  Russian  army  and  fleet 
was  proclaimed  on  July  31  and  martial  law  was  proclaimed 
forthwith  in  Germany.  The  government  of  the  Kaiser  had 
given  Russia  twenty-four  hours  in  which  to  reply  to  its  ulti- 
matum of  the  30th.  Russia  paid  no  attention  to  the  ultimatum, 
but  M.  Goremykin,  president  of  the  Council  of  the  Russian 
Empire,  issued  a  manifesto  which  read : 

''Russia  is  determined  not  to  allow  Servia  to  be  crushed 
and  will  fulfill  its  duty  in  regard  to  that  small  kingdom,  which 
has  already  suffered  so  much  at  Austria's  hands." 

Austria-Hungary  declared  war  against  Russia  on  August 
6.  From  that  time  on  the  Russian  army  had  two  main  objec- 
tives— first,  the  Austrian  province  of  Galicia,  and  second  the 
eastern  frontier  of  Germany,  across  which  lay  the  territory 
known  as  East  Prussia.  And  while  the  early  days  of  the  great 
conflict  saw  a  German  host  pouring  into  Belgium,  animated 
by  the  battle-cry,  "On  to  Paris !"  the  gathering  legions  of  the 
Czar  headed  to  the  west  and  crossed  the  Prussian  frontier 
with  hoarse,  resounding  shouts  of  "On  to  Berlin!" 

192 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  193 

MOBILIZATION  WAS  SLOW 

The  mobilization  of  the  Eussian  army  was  slow  compared 
with  that  of  Germany,  France  and  Austria,  and  some  weeks 
elapsed  after  the  declaration  of  war  before  Russia  was  pre- 
pared to  attack  Germany  with  the  full  force  of  which  it  was 
capable.  The  immense  distances  to  be  traversed  by  troops 
proceeding  to  the  frontier  and  by  the  reserves  to  their  re- 
spective depots  caused  delays  that  were  unavoidable  but  were 
minimized  by  the  eagerness  of  the  Russian  soldiery  to  get  to 
the  front.  In  Russia,  as  in  all  the  other  great  countries  en- 
gaged in  the  conflict,  with  the  probable  exception  of  Austria, 
the  war  was  popular  and  a  wave  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  and 
martial  ardor  swept  over  the  land,  from  the  Baltic  to  the 
Black  Sea,  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Siberia. 

In  Russia  military  service  is  universal  and  begins  at  the 
age  of  20,  continuing  for  twenty-three  years.  There  are 
three  divisions  of  the  Russian  army — the  European,  Cau- 
casian and  Asiatic  armies.  Military  service  of  the  Russian 
consists  of  three  years  in  the  first  line,  fourteen  years  in  the 
reserve  (during  which  time  he  has  to  undergo  two  periods  of 
training  of  six  weeks  each)  and  five  years  in  the  territorial 
reserve.  The  Cossacks,  however,  hold  their  land  by  military 
tenure  and  are  liable  to  serve  at  any  time  in  the  army.  They 
provide  their  own  horses  and  accouterments.  The  total 
strength  of  the  Russian  army  is  about  5,500,000  men ;  the  field 
force  of  the  European  army  consists  of  1,000,000  soldiers 
with  about  the  same  number  in  the  second  line.  There  were 
besides  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  over  5,000,000  men  un- 
organized but  available  for  duty. 

AKMY  EEOKGANIZED  EECENTLY 

Since  the  disastrous  war  with  Japan  the  Russian  army 
has  been  reorganized  and  it  has  profited  largely  by  the  harsh 
experience  of  the  Manchurian  campaign. 

The  physique  of  the  Russian  infantryman  is  second  to 
none  in  Europe.  The  Russian  *'moujik"  (peasant)  is  from 
childhood  accustomed  to  cover  long  distances  on  foot,  so  that 
marches  of  from  30  to  40  miles  are  covered  without  fatigue 
by  even  the  youngest  recruits.  They  wear  long  boots,  whieli 
are  made  of  excellent  soft  leather,  so  that  sore  feet  were 


rJ4  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

quite  the  exception  even  in  Manclinria,  where  very  long 
marches  were  undergone  by  many  of  the  units. 

Each  regiment  of  infantry  contains  four  battalions  com- 
manded by  a  major  or  lieutenant-colonel.  The  battalion  con- 
sists of  four  companies  of  120  men,  commanded  by  a  captain, 
so  that  each  regiment  on  a  war  footing  numbers  upwards  of 
2,000  men. 

The  Russian  cavalry  is  divided  into  two  main  categories. 
There  are  the  heavy  regiments  of  the  Guard,  which  consist 
mainly  of  Lancer  regiments,  and  there  are  also  numberless 
Cossack  or  irregular  cavalry  regiments,  which  are  recruited 
chiefly  from  the  districts  of  the  Eiver  Don  and  the  highlands 
of  the  Caucasus. 

The  horses  of  the  Russian  horse  and  field  artillery  are 
distinctly  poor  and  very  inferior  to  those  of  the  cavalry.  The 
artillery  is  therefore  somewhat  slow  in  coming  into  action. 
But  the  horses,  while  weedy-looking,  are  very  hardy  and  pull 
the  guns  up  steep  gradients.  The  Russian  gunners  prefer  to 
take  up  * '  indirect ' '  rather  than  *  *  direct ' '  positions.  Batteries 
are  also  rather  slow  in  changing  positions  and  in  moving  up 
in  support  of  their  infantry  units. 

THE  RUSSIAN  COSSACKS 

What  the  Uhlans  are  to  the  German  army,  the  Cossaclis 
of  the  Don  and  the  Caucasus  are  to  the  Russians — scouts, 
advance  guards  and  *' covering'*  cavalry.  They  are  good  all- 
round  fighters,  capable  of  long-continued  effort  and  tireless 
in  the  saddle;  they  are  also  trained  to  fight  in  dismounted 
action. 

As  a  soldier  the  Cossack  is  altogether  unique;  his  ways 
are  his  own  and  his  confidence  in  his  officers  and  himself  is 
perfect.  His  passionate  love  of  horses  makes  his  work  a 
pleasure.  The  Cossack  seat  on  horseback  is  on  a  high  pad- 
saddle,  with  the  knee  almost  vertical  and  the  heel  well  drawn 
back.  Spurs  are  not  worn,  and  another  remarkable  thing  is 
that  he  has  absolutely  no  guard  to  his  sword.  The  Russian 
soldier  scorns  buttons;  he  says,  "They  are  a  nuisance;  they 
have  to  be  cleaned,  they  wear  away  the  cloth,  they  are  heavy, 
and  they  attract  the  attention  of  the  enemy. ' ' 

The  Cossack  pony  is  a  quaint  little  beast  to  look  at,  but 
the  finest  animal  living  for  his  "work,  and  very  reiaarkalblt 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  195 

for  his  wonderful  powers  of  endurance.  The  Cossack  and  his 
mount  have  been  likened  to  a  clever  nurse  and  a  spoilt  child — 
each  understands  and  loves  the  other,  but  neither  is  com- 
pletely under  control.  The  Cossack  does  not  want  his  horse 
to  be  a  slave,  and  recognizes  perfectly  that  horses,  like  chil- 
dren, have  their  whims  and  humors  and  must  be  coaxed  and 
reasoned  with,  but  rarely  punished.  The  famous  knout  (whip) 
is  carried  by  the  Cossacks  at  the  end  of  a  strap  across  the 
left  shoulder.  Most  of  the  men  are  bearded  and  in  full  dress, 
with  the  high  fur  cap  stuck  jauntily  on  the  head  of  square 
cut  hair,  the  Cossack  presents  a  picturesque  and  martial  fig- 
ure. The  appearance  of  these  men  is  quite  different  from 
that  of  the  clean-shaven  regular  infantryman  of  the  Russian 
army. 

EUSSIAN  PLAN  OF  CAMPAIGN" 

"While  the  direct  objective  of  the  Russians  was  Berlin, 
there  were  many  reasons  why  a  bee-line  course  could  not  be 
followed.  Germany  had  prepared  an  elaborate  defense  sys- 
tem to  cover  the  direct  approaches  to  Berlin,  and  the  fortresses 
of  Danzig,  Graudenz,  Thorn,  and  Posen  were  important  points 
in  this  scheme.  The  nature  of  the  country  also  adapts  itself 
to  these  defensive  works  and  would  make  progress  slow  for 
an  attacker. 

Moreover,  as  Austria  and  her  forces  mobilized  before  Rus- 
sia, a  diversion  was  created  by  the  Austrian  invasion  of  south 
Poland,  in  which  the  Germans  also  took  the  offensive.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  Russian  plan  of  campaign  resolved 
itself  into  three  parts: — 

(1)  A  northern  movement  from  Kovno  and  Grodno  on 
Insterburg  and  Konigsberg  as  a  counter-attack. 

( 2 )  A  central  movement  from  Warsaw  towards  Posen  with 
supporting  movements  north  and  south. 

(3)  A  southern  movement  on  Lublin  in  Poland  to  repulse 
the  invaders  combined  with  a  movement  from  the  east  on 
Lemberg  in  order  to  turn  the  Austrian  flank. 

The  first  purpose  of  Russia  was  to  clear  Poland  of  enemies, 
as  they  threatened  the  Russian  left  flank.  At  the  same  tim.e 
Kussia  took  the  offensive  by  an  invasion  of  Prussia  in  the 


196 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 


north.  This  latter  movement  led  to  a  victory  at  Gumbinnen 
and  the  investment  of  Konigsberg.  Later  came  victory  at 
Lublin,  rolling  back  the  Austrians,  and  the  capture  of  Lem- 
berg,  which  signalized  the  Russian  invasion  of  Austrian  ter- 
ritory. Thus  Russia  was  for  awhile  clear  of  the  enemy,  while 
she  established  a  strong  footing  in  both  Prussia  and  Austria. 
We  can  now  understand  the  main  Russian  plan  a  little 
better.  In  the  north  the  army  was  to  advance  from  Konigs- 
berg and  endeavor  to  cut  off  Danzig  and  break  the  line  of 


PRAGUE 


LEMBERG 


T  R 


DE  FENC£' 


THE  RU&SIAN  PLAN  OF  CAMPAIGN 
In  the  above  view  the  German  lines  of  defense  are  shown  black, 
the  Austrian  lines  of  defense  are  Indicated  by  crossed  lines,  and 
the  Russian  advances  are  shown  by  arrows. 


defenses  between  that  place  and  Thorn,  thus  leaving  this 
fortress  in  the  rear.  In  the  south  the  Austrians,  already 
heavily  punished,  would  be  driven  back  on  the  Carpathian 
passes  to  the  south,  and  westward  also  toward  Cracow,  which 
is  the  key  to  the  situation.  If  Cracow  fell  Russia  would  have 
a  good  route  into  Germany,  and  the  move  would  be  supported 
by  advances  from  Warsaw,  thus  threatening  Breslau  from 
two  sides. 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

GERMAN-   TROOPS   HURRIED  EAST 

Early  in  September,  however,  the  danger  of  the  Russian 
advance  into  Germany,  which  apparently  had  given  the  Ger- 
man general  staff  but  little  concern  at  first,  was  fully  realized 
and  large  bodies  of  German  troops  were  detached  from  the 
western  theater  of  war  and  hurried  to  the  eastern  frontier. 
Germany  had  evidently  reckoned  on  Austria  being  able  to 
hold  its  ground  better,  and  was  badly  prepared  for  a  flanking 
move  on  Breslau  so  early  in  the  campaign.  But  the  Servian 
and  Russian  defeats  of  Austria  left  Germany  to  bear  the  full 
force  of  the  terrific  Russian  onslaught,  and  her  forces  proved 
equal  to  the  occasion.  Under  General  von  Hindenberg  the 
German  army  of  the  east  soon  repelled  the  Russian  invaders 
and  forced  them  to  retire  from  East  Prussia  across  their  own 
border,  where  they  were  followed  by  the  Germans.  A  series 
of  engagements  on  Russian  soil  followed,  in  which  the  advan- 
tage lay  as  a  rule  with  the  Germans.  The  losses  on  both 
sides  were  heavy,  but  the  Germans  captured  many  thousands 
of  Russian  prisoners  and  considerable  quantities  of  arms  and 
munitions  of  war.  The  immense  resources  of  the  Russian 
empire  in  men  and  material  made  the  problem  of  Russian 
invasion  a  very  serious  one  for  Germany.  This  was  fully 
realized  by  the  Kaiser,  who  about  October  1,  at  the  end  of 
the  second  month  of  the  war,  proceeded  in  person  to  his 
eastern  frontier  to  direct  the  defensive  operations  against 
Russia. 

CZAR   NICHOLAS   AT   THE   FRONT 

About  the  same  time  the  Czar,  Nicholas  II,  also  took  the 
field  in  person,  arriving  at  the  front  on  October  5,  accom- 
panied by  General  Soukhomlinoff,  the  Russian  minister  of 
war. 

*'I  am  resolved  to  go  to  Berlin  itself,  even  if  it  causes  me 
to  lose  my  last  moujik  (peasant),"  the  Czar  is  reported  as 
saying  in  September.  The  spirit  and  temper  of  the  Russian 
government  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  before  the  war 
was  many  days  old  the  name  of  the  Russian  capital  was 
officially  changed  from  *'St.  Petersburg,"  which  was  consid^ 
ered  to  have  a  German  flavor,  to  '^Petrograd,"  a  purely 
Russian  or  Slavic  form  of  nomenclature. 


198  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

EUSSIA  PEEPAEES  TO  STEIKE  AUSTEIA 

By  the  third  week  of  August,  according  to  an  announce- 
ment from  Petrograd,  Eussian  troops  had  checked  an  attempt 
by  the  Austrians  to  enter  Poland  from  the  GaUcian  frontier 
and  were  preparing  to  invade  Austria  on  a  large  scale.  At 
that  time  Russia  was  said  to  have  2,000,000  men  under  arms 
for  the  invasion  of  Germany  and  Austria,  also  500,000  on  the 
Roumanian  and  Turkish  borders,  and  3,000,000  men  in  reserve. 
(The  latter  w^ere  called  out  by  imperial  ukase  before  Czar 
Nicholas  started  for  the  front.)  The  Poles  had  been  promised 
self-government  and  had  been  called  on  to  support  Russia. 
The  Jews  throughout  the  Russian  empire  were  also  promised 
a  greater  measure  of  protection,  freedom  of  action  and  civil 
rights.  These  measures  inaugurated  an  era  of  better  feeling 
in  Russia  and  Poland  and  were  strongly  approved  by  the 
allies  of  Russia. 

Most  of  the  Austrian  reserves  were  mobilized  by  August 
15  and  Germany's  ally  announced  that  she  would  soon  have 
her  total  war  strength  of  2,000,000  men  in  the  field.  Austria 
sent  some  troops  to  join  the  German  forces  in  Belgium  and 
an  army  of  several  hundred  thousand  men  was  gathered  along 
the  Austro-Russian  frontier  under  command  of  the  Archduke 
Frederick.  General  Rennenkampf  was  in  command  of  the 
Russian  forces  for  the  invasion  of  East  Prussia,  while  Gen- 
eral Russky  led  the  Russian  army  operating  against  Galicia. 

INVASION  OF  PEUSSIA 

"Within  a  week  the  Russian  movement  in  eastern  Germany 
assumed  menacing  proportions,  the  great  army  of  invasion 
having  moved  rapidly,  considering  the  natural  obstacles. 
More  than  800,000  men  were  sent  over  the  border  into  Prussia. 
The  Germans  evacuated  a  number  of  towns,  after  setting 
them  afire,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  Kaiser's  eastern 
field  forces  was  bottled  up  in  military  centers.  Germany's 
active  field  force  was  at  this  time  infemor  in  numbers  to  the 
invading  army. 

By  the  capture  of  Insterberg  the  Russians  paralyzed  one 
of  the  main  German  strategic  centers  and  gained  control  of 
an  important  railroad.  The  German  Twentieth  Army  Corps 
was  reported  to  have  been  routed  near  Lyck.    At  the  start 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  199 

the  Russian  forces  extended  from  Insterberg  to  Goldapp,  a 
distance  of  about  thirty-two  miles.  Seventy-five  miles  further 
on  was  the  first  of  the  two  strong  German  lines  of  fortifica- 
tions. 

Early  victories  were  claimed  by  the  Russians  in  their  ad- 
vance into  Austria,  which  was  made  slowly.  Austria  then 
turned  to  fight  the  Russian  invasion.  It  was  forced  to  gather 
all  its  forces  for  this  principal  struggle  and  hence  retired 
from  offensive  operations  against  the  Servians.  Unless  she 
could  halt  the  Russians  pouring  in  from  the  north,  a  success 
against  Servia  could  do  her  no  good. 

By  the  first  of  September  the  Russian  advance  into  East 
Prussia  was  well  under  way  and  the  sfa-ong  fortress  of 
Konigsberg  was  in  danger  of  a  siege.  German  troops  were 
being  rushed  to  its  defense.  In  Galicia  there  were  fierce 
encounters  between  the  Russian  invaders  and  the  Austrians. 
Several  victories  were  claimed  by  the  Russians  all  along  the 
line  and  whole  brigades  of  Austrian  troops  were  reported 
destroyed,  while  the  Russian  losses  were  also  admittedly 
heavy.  The  fiercest  fighting  occurred  in  the  vicinity  of  Lem- 
berg,  the  capital  of  Galicia,  which  was  soon  to  fall  to  General 
Russky.  The  Austrian  attack  on  Russian  Poland  failed  and 
the  Austrians  w^ere  driven  back  across  their  own  frontier. 
The  Russians  were  seeking  to  destroy  the  hope  of  the  Kaiser 
for  help  from  Austria  in  Eastern  Germany,  where  the  Rus- 
sian advance,  ridiculed  or  belittled  by  Germany  before  it  be- 
gan, became  more  menacing  every  day.  The  German  war 
plans  had  contemplated  a  quick,  decisive  blow  in  France  and 
then  a  rapid  turn  to  the  East  to  meet  the  Russians  with  a 
tremendous  force.  But  the  belligerency  of  the  Belgians  and 
the  cooperation  of  the  British  balked  these  plans,  while  the 
Russians  moved  faster  than  was  expected  by  their  fbe.  Aus- 
tria had  failed  everywhere  to  stop  the  Czar's  forces,  and  then 
came  a  crushing  blow  to  Austrian  hopes  in  a  ruinous  defeat 
near  Lemberg  and  the  loss  of  that  fortress. 

THE   FALL   OF   LEMBEEG 

The  capture  of  Lemberg  from  the  Austrians  early  in 
September  after  a  four  days'  battle  was  one  of  the  striking 
Russian  successes  of  the  war.     Details  reached  the  outer 


200  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

world  on  September  lOtli  from  Petrograd  (St.  Petersburg) 
as  follows,  the  story  being  that  of  an  eyewitness : 

"The  commencement  of  the  fighting  which  resulted  in 
the  capture  of  Lemberg  began  August  29th,  when  the  Rus- 
sians drove  the  enemy  from  Zisczow  (forty-five  miles  east 
of  Lemberg)  and  moved  on  to  Golaya  Gorka — a  name  which 
means  'the  naked  hill.' 

*  *  We  spent  the  night  on  Naked  Hill,  and  the  actual  storm- 
ing of  the  to^^^l  was  begun  at  2:30  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Then  followed  a  four  days'  battle.  A  virtually  continuous 
cannonade  continued  from  dawn  to  darkness  without  ces- 
sation. 

'  *  Even  in  the  darkness  the  weary  fighters  got  little  sleep. 
Whenever  a  single  shot  was  heard  the  men  dashed  for  their 
places  and  the  battle  boiled  again  with  renewed  fury. 

''The  enemy's  counter  attacks  were  delivered  with  great 
energy  and  a  dense  hail  of  lead  and  iron  was  poured  over 
our  ranks.  The  Russian  advance  was  greatly  impeded  by 
the  hilly  nature  of  the  ground  and  the  great  number  of 
extinct  craters,  which  formed  splendid  natural  fortifications 
for  the  enemy,  which  held  them  doggedly.  Out  of  these, 
however,  the  enemy  was  driven  in  succession. 

"We  suffered  much  from  thirst,  for  the  stony  country 
was  devoid  of  springs.  The  days  were  oppressively  hot 
and  the  nights  bitterly  cold. 

EUSSIAN  ARTTLLEEY  SUPERIOB 

"Both  sides  fought  with  great  obstinacy,  but  the  nearer 
we  approached  Lemberg  the  harder  the  struggle  became. 
However,  it  soon  was  evident  that  we  were  superior  in  artil- 
lery. 

"At  length  the  enemy  was  driven  from  all  sides  beneath 
the  protection  of  the  Lemberg  forts.  Our  troops  were  very 
weary,  but  in  high  spirits. 

"For  two  days  the  fight  raged  around  the  forts,  but  we 
were  always  confident  of  the  prowess  of  our  artillery.  The 
big  guns  of  both  sides  rained  a  terrific  hail  down  on  the 
armies,  which  suffered  terrific  losses. 

"At  last  we  noticed  that  the  resistance  of  the  forts  was 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  201 

growing  weaker.    A  charge  at  double  quick  was  ordered,  and 
we  carried  the  first  line  of  works. 

"It  was  evident  from  that  point  that  many  of  the  enemy's 
guns  had  been  destroyed.  Not  enough  of  them  had  been  left 
to  continue  an  effective  defense,  but  the  enemy  was  undis- 
couraged  and  tried  to  make  up  with  rifle  fire  what  it  lacked 
in  artillery. 

LOSSES  BECOME  HEAVIER 

*' Between  the  first  and  second  lines  our  losses  were  heavier 
than  before,  but  under  bayonet  charges  the  enemy  broke  and 
fled  in  panic. 

**Our  troops  entered  the  town  at  the  enemy's  heels.  We 
ran  into  the  town,  despite  our  fatigue,  with  thunderous  cheer- 
ing. 

"An  episode  which  had  much  to  do  with  ending  the 
enemy's  dogged  resistance  occurred  during  the  fighting  be- 
tween the  first  and  second  lines.  The  Austrians  in  the  hope 
of  checking  the  Eussian  effort  to  encircle  the  town  had  thrown 
out  a  heavy  screen  of  Slav  troops  with  a  backing  of  Magyars 
who  had  been  ordered  to  shoot  down  the  Slavs  from  behind 
if  they  showed  any  hesitation. 

"This  circumstance  became  known  to  the  Eussian  com- 
mander, who  ordered  a  terrific  artillery  fire  over  the  heads 
of  the  Slavs  and  into  the  ranks  of  the  Magyars.  This  well- 
directed  fire  set  the  whole  line  in  panic. ' ' 

More  than  35,000  Austrians  and  Eussian  wounded  were 
abandoned  on  the  field  of  battle  between  Tarnow,  Lemberg 
and  Tarnopol  owing  to  lack  of  means  of  transportation,  ac- 
cording to  reliable  reports.  Both  armies  declined  to  ask  for 
an  armistice  for  the  burial  of  the  dead  and  the  collection  of 
the  wounded,  each  fearing  to  give  an  advantage  to  the  other. 

THE  BATTLE  BEFOEE  LEMBEEG 

The  immense  superiority  of  the  Austrian  forces  east  of 
Lemberg  enabled  the  Austrians  at  first  to  adopt  the  offensive. 
As  soon,  however,  as  the  Austrians  realized  the  impossibility 
of  an  advance  on  Warsaw  they  concentrated  their  large  and 
overwhelming  forces  in  an  attempt  to  outflank  the  right  wing 
<)f  the  Eussian  army,  which  was  drawing  slowly  but  surely 
towards  Lemberg.    On  the  other  Eussian  flank  the  two  Eus- 


202 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 


sian  army  corps,  after  crossing  the  River  Zlota  Lipa  without 
much  opposition,  continued  their  advance  to  the  River  Knila 
Lipa,  where  they  found  the  bridges  had  all  been  destroyed  by 
the  Austrian  advance  guards.  Two  bridges  were  constructed 
on  the  Rogarten-Halicz  line,  which  enabled  a  crossing  to  be 
effected  in  spite  of  heavy  and  incessant  artillery  fire  from  the 
Austrian  24-centimeter  gTins. 

Once  across  the  river,  the  two  Russian  corps  crossed  the 
upper  reaches  of  the  River  Boog  and  so  approached  the  town 
of  Lemberg  from  the  east.    The  main  Austrian  army,  how- 


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WHERE  HUSaiA  FI0HT8. 

Battle  pTonnda  of  Eastern  Prussia  and  of  Qallcla,  where  the  Austrlans  were  repeatedly 
defeated  with  heavy  losses. 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  203 

ever,  liad  by  this  time  moved  up  to  bar  the  further  advance 
of  the  Russian  forces,  and  the  whole  of  their  armies  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  River  Vistula  being  in  front  of  the  three  Rus- 
sian corps,  the  latter  were  compelled  to  adopt  a  defensive 
role  for  three  or  four  days,  after  which,  having  received  large 
reinforcements,  the  Russian  force  moved  forward  and  drove 
the  Austrian  troops  out  of  their  entrenchments  outside  Lem 
berg  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  A  desperate  attempt  was 
made  by  means  of  a  counter-attack  to  arrest  the  advance  of 
the  Russian  troops,  but  this  only  resulted  in  the  capture  of 
6,000  Austrian  prisoners. 

Lemberg  was  not  a  fortress  but  was  recently  converted 
into  a  semi-fortified  place,  as  a  series  of  lunettes,  redoubts, 
etc.,  had  been  hastily  prepared.  It  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  11th  Austrian  Corps,  which  consisted  of  the  famous  43rd 
Landwehr  infantry  division,  and  was  further  divided  into 
three  Landwehr  brigades.  There  was  also  a  Landwehr  Uhlan 
regiment,  together  with  a  howitzer  division  of  field  artillery. 
These  batteries  were  armed  with  10.5-centimeter  guns,  fitted 
with  the  German  or  Krupp  eccentric  breech  action.  The  forts 
outside  the  town  were  said  to  be  armed  with  the  15-centimeter 
siege  gun  made  of  steel,  also  with  a  Krupp  action.  The 
ammunition  for  these  guns  is  chiefly  high  explosive  shell  and 
shrapnel ;  one  of  the  forts  is  also  said  to  have  had  a  battery 
of  three  24:-centimeter  heavy  siege  guns  of  quite  a  modern 
pattern. 

GERMANY  RUSHES  REINrORCEMENTS 

When  Lemberg  fell  the  Russian  advance  covered  a  line 
extending  from  far  up  in  Eastern  Prussia,  near  Tilsit,  across 
the  frontier  and  on  down  south  into  Austrian  Galicia.  Konigs- 
berg  was  hearing  the  sound  of  the  Russian  guns  and  its  be- 
siegers seemed  on  the  verge  of  victory.  A  central  column  of 
mighty  strength  was  pushing  its  way  into  Germany,  despite 
a  stubborn  resistance.  Then  the  tide  turned.  German  rein- 
forcements were  brought  up  and  under  General  von  Hinden- 
berg  the  Germans  administered  a  severe  defeat  to  General 
Rennenkampf 's  army  near  Allenstein,  in  which  it  was  claimed 
that  60,000  prisoners  were  taken.  Other  reverses  were  suf- 
fered by  the  Russians  and  soon  after  the  middle  of  September 


20^  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

tliey  had  been  forced  to  retire  from  German  territory,  the 
German  troops  following  them  into  Russia,  where  a  series  of 
minor  engagements  occurred  near  the  frontier. 

GENEKAl.   BENNENKAMPF 'S   DEFEAT 

The  operations  leading  to  the  defeat  of  General  Rennen- 
kampf's  Russian  araiy  by  the  Germans  were  as  follows: 

From  September  7  to  13  the  Russians  took  a  strong  posi- 
tion on  the  line  from  Angerburg  to  Gerdauen,  Allenburg,  and 
Kehlau,  the  left  wing  resting  on  the  Mazurian  lakes  and  the 
right  wing  protected  in  the  rear  and  flank  by  the  forest  of 
Frisching,  whose  pathless  woods  and  swamps  furnished  an 
almost  impregnable  position.  The  Russians  devoted  great 
efforts  to  intrenching  their  position  and  brought  up  besides 
their  heavy  artillery.  Russian  cavalry  scouted  far  to  the  west 
and  south,  but  othermse  the  army  undertook  no  offensive 
operations  in  the  days  following  a  battle  at  Tannenberg. 

The  German  forces,  according  to  the  German  official  ac- 
count, were  composed  of  the  Second,  Third,  Fourth  and 
Twentieth  corps,  two  reserve  divisions  and  five  cavalry  divi- 
sions. 

General  von  Hindenburg,  the  German  commander,  mean- 
while was  assembling  every  available  man,  depri^dng  the 
fortresses  of  their  garrisons  and  calling  in  all  but  a  bare 
remnant  of  the  force  protecting  the  southern  frontier  in  the 
vicinity  of  Soldau,  adding  them  to  reinforcements  received 
from  the  west. 

General  von  Hindenburg  again  resorted  to  the  customary 
German  flanking  movement,  and  since  the  German  right,  pro- 
tected by  the  forest  and  marshes,  seemed  too^  strong,  he 
adopted  the  daring  strategy  of  sending  the  flanking  force  to 
the  lake  region  to  the  south,  the  same  character  of  movement 
by  which  the  Russian  Narew  army  had  been  defeated  on 
August  28,  in  the  vicinity  of  Ortelsburg,  and  which  in  case  of 
failure  might  have  been  equally  as  disastrous  for  the  Germans. 

STRATEGY  IS  SUCCESSFUL 

The  strategy,  however,  succeeded,  although  General  Ren- 
nenkampf  offered  a  desperate  resistance  to  the  frontal  at- 
tacks.   After  three  days'  fighting  the  Russians  were  forced 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  205 

hack  slightly  in  the  center.  When  the  flank  movement  of  the 
Germans  was  discovered  already  threatening  the  flank,  a 
counter-movement  was  launched  with  a  new  army  collected  at 
Lyck,  including  the  Twenty-second  corps  and  parts  of  the 
Third  Siberian  corps,  just  arriving  from  Irkutsk,  and  the 
balance  of  the  defeated  army.  The  counter-attacks  failed 
and  on  September  10  the  Eussians  began  to  fall  back  on  their 
main  iK)sition,  retreating  in  good  order  and  well  covered. 

The  Eussian  artillery  on  the  right  wing  appears  to  have 
made  a  good  retreat  owing  to  a  timely  start,  while  the  left 
wing  was  hard  pressed  by  the  enveloping  German  infantry. 
From  this  wing  the  Eussians  retreated  across  the  border  in 
two  columns,  while  the  main  body  went  northward  and  the 
others  in  an  easterly  direction,  pursued  by  the  Germans,  who 
advanced  far  from  the  border. 

The  German  government  appointed  Count  von  Merveldt 
as  governor  of  the  Eussian  province  of  Suwalki  and  other 
points  occupied  by  them. 

The  University  of  Koenigsberg  on  September  18  conferred 
upon  General  von  Hindenburp;  honorary  doctors'  degrees  from 
all  four  of  the  departments  of  philosophy,  theology,  law  and 
medicine,  in  recognition  of  his  success  against  the  Eussian 
invader. 

AUSTKIA  STRUGGLING  FOR  EXISTENCE 

In  Galicia,  however,  Eussian  successes  continued.  The 
important  fortress  of  Mikolajoff,  25  miles  south  of  Lemberg, 
was  captured  and  this  cleared  away  every  Austrian  strong- 
hold east  of  Przemysl,  which  was  then  invested  by  the  Eus- 
sians. 

Austria  was  now  struggling  for  her  very  existence  as  a 
monarchy.  Following  the  crushing  defeats  administered^  to 
the  Austrian  troops  and  with  the  Czar's  forces  sweeping 
Galicia,  Vienna  was  hurriedly  fortified.  All  reports  indicated 
that  the  large  Austrian  force,  nearly  1,000,000  men  in  all,  op- 
posing the  main  Eussian  invasion  had  proved  ineffective.  Help 
from  Germany  did  not  arrive  in  time.  Official  dispatches  re- 
ported the  main  Austrian  army  retreating,  pursued  and 
harassed  by  the  Eussians.  The  other  important  Austrian 
army  was  surrounded  near  Lublin. 

While  the  Muscovite  host  went  smashing  through  Galicia, 


206  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

cliasing  the  Austrian  army  before  it,  the  Russian  staff  be- 
littled the  retreat  from  East  Prussia,  saying  that  the  Russian 
army  was  merely  falling  back  on  a  new  defensive  position. 
The  German  artillery  had  been  getting  in  its  deadly  work  and 
the  pressure  on  Koenigsberg  was  soon  to  be  relieved. 

There  were  many  reports  at  this  time  of  a  popular  demand 
in  Austria  that  an  end  be  made  to  the  struggle.  Peace  talk 
was  a  marked  feature  of  the  sixth  week  of  the  war,  but  there 
were  no  definite  results  in  any  part  of  the  immense  theater 
of  war. 

The  third  week  of  September  found  the  Germans,  greatly 
reinforced,  making  a  strong  resistance  to  Russian  progress, 
with  the  aid  of  the  heavy  German  artillery.  The  shattered 
Austrian  armies,  under  Generals  von  Auffenberg  and  Dankl, 
were  making  desperate  endeavors  to  concentrate  in  the  vicinity 
of  Rawaruska,  but  were  apparently  surrounded  by  the  Rus- 
sians, who  continued  to  capture  Austrian  prisoners  by  the 
thousand.  Fears  were  entertained  for  Cracow,  one  of  the 
strongest  fortresses  in  Austria,  if  not  in  Europe,  which  seemed 
likely  soon  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Russia. 

It  was  stated  in  Rome,  and  said  to  be  admitted  in  Vienna, 
that  the  Archduke  Frederick,  commanding  the  Austrian  forces 
in  Galicia,  had  lost  120,000  men,  or  one-fourth  of  his  entire 
army.  German  troops  were  reported  marching  south  toward 
Poland  to  assist  the  Austrians. 

The  Russian  successes  in  Galicia  gave  them  command  of 
the  Galician  oil-fields,  upon  which  Germany  largely  depended 
for  her  supply  of  gasoline,  which  is  a  prime  necessary  in 
modern  war. 

RUSSIANS  AT  PEZEMYSL 

On  September  21  the  Russians  began  the  bombardment  of 
Przemysl,  having  previously  occupied  Grodek  and  Mosciska, 
west  of  Lemberg.  The  shattered  second  Austrian  army  was 
evidently  incapable  of  staying  the  Russian  advance,  and  took 
refuge  in  Przemysl.  A  part  of  this  Galician  stronghold  was 
soon  captured  by  the  Russians,  forcing  the  Austrians  to  take 
refuge  in  the  eastern  forts,  where  the  entire  garrison  was 
concentrated  at  the  end  of  September,  preparing  to  make  a 
final  resistance.    The  situation  of  the  garrison  was  critical, 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  207 

as  it  was  entirely  surrounded  by  tlie  enemy.  On  September 
21  also  the  Eussian  troops  took  by  storm  the  fortifications  of 
Jaroslav,  on  the  river  San,  and  captured  many  guns. 

The  German  offensive  from  East  Prussia  was  apparently 
halted  October  1  by  the  almost  impassable  condition  of  the 
Russian  roads  in  the  north.  Germany  was  said  to  have  at 
this  time  thirty  army  corps  of  the  line  and  the  first  reserve 
prepared  to  operate  against  Russia  and  to  resist  the  Russian 
advance  upon  Cracow. 

The  German  main  defenses  against  Russia  extended  in  a 
general  line  from  Koenigsberg  to  Danzig,  thence  south  along 
the  Vistula  to  the  great  fortress  of  Thorn.  From  there  the 
fortified  line  swung  to  the  southwest  to  Posen,  thence  south  to 
Breslau,  the  main  fortress  along  the  Oder,  and  from  there 
to  Cracow. 

Early  in  October  the  Russian  invasion  of  Hungary  began. 
The  Russian  armies  continued  to  sweep  through  Galicia  and 
that  province  was  reported  clear  of  Austrian  troops.  The 
German  successes  claimed  against  the  Czar  farther  north 
included  victories  at  Krasnik  and  Zamoso,  in  Russian  Poland  ; 
Insterburg  and  Tannenburg,  in  East  Prussia. 

ESTIMATE  OF  AUSTRIAN  LOSSES 

A  Russian  estimate  places  the  Austrian  losses  in  Galicia 
at  300,000  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  or  nearly  one- 
third  of  their  total  forces.  They  also  lost,  it  was  claimed  at 
Petrograd,  1,000  guns,  more  than  two-thirds  of  their  available 
artillery. 

The  Russian  newspaper  correspondents  described  horrible 
scenes  on  the  battlefields  abandoned  by  the  Austro-German 
forces  in  Galicia. 

''Streams,"  said  one  eyewitness,  ''were  choked  full  with 
slain  men,  trodden  down  in  the  headlong  flight  till  the  waters 
were  dammed  and  overflowing  the  banks.  Piles  of  dead  are 
awaiting  burial  or  burning.  Hundreds  of  acres  are  sown  with 
bodies  and  littered  with  weapons  and  battle  debris,  while 
wounded  and  riderless  horses  are  careering  madly  over  the 
abandoned  country.  The  trophies  captured  comprise  much 
German  equipment.  An  ammunition  train  captured  at  Janow 
(eleven  miles  northwest  of  Lemberg)  was  German,  while  the 


208  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

guns  taken  included  tliirty-six  of  heavy  caliber  bearing  Em- 
peror William's  initials  and  belonging  to  the  German  Sixth 
army  corps. 

"The  hne  of  retreat  of  the  Austro-German  forces  was 
blocked  with  debris  of  every  kind — valuable  militaiy  supplies, 
telephone  and  telegraph  installations,  light  railway  and  other 
stores,  bridging  material — ^in  fact,  everything  needed  by  a 
modern  army  was  flung  away  in  flight.  Over  1,000  wagons 
with  commissariat  supplies  alone  were  captured." 

Forty-five  thousand  Austro-German  prisoners  were  re- 
ported to  have  arrived  at  Lublin.  Russian  correspondents 
with  the  armies  in  Galicia  asserted  that  German  troops  were 
interspersed  with  Austrian  troops  in  the  intrenchments  in 
order  to  raise  the  morale  of  the  Austrians.  One  correspondent 
declared  that  while  the  Austrians  often  took  flight  the  Ger- 
mans were  ready,  to  the  last  man,  to  perish. 


ON  THE  FIRING  LINE  IN  RUSSIAN   POLAND ^VIVID  DESCRIPTION   BY 

AN  AMERICAN  EYEWITNESS 

The  first  American  permitted  to  witness  actual  battles  near 
the  eastern  frontier  of  Germany  was  Karl  H.  von  Wiegaud, 
who  wrote  as  follows  from  the  firing  line  near  East  Wirballen, 
Russian  Poland,  October  9 : 

* '  The  German  artillery  today  beat  back,  in  a  bloody,  ghastly 
smear  of  men,  the  Russian  advance. 

''Yesterday  I  saw  an  infantry  engagement.  Today  it  was 
mostly  an  artillery  encounter.  The  infantry  attack  is  the 
more  ghastly,  but  the  artillery  the  more  awe-inspiring.  This 
was  the  fifth  day  of  constant  fighting  and  still  the  German 
trenches  hold. 

"Today's  battle  opened  at  dawn.  With  two  staff  officers 
assigned  as  my  chaperons,  I  had  been  attached  overnight  to 
the  field  headquarters.  I  slept  well,  exhausted  by  the  excite- 
ment of  my  first  sight  of  modern  war,  but  when  dawn  once 
again  revealed  the  two  long  lines  of  the  Russian  and  German 
positions  the  Russian  guns  began  to  hurl  their  loads  of 
shrapnel  at  the  German  trenches. 

"We  had  breakfast  calmly  enough  despite  the  din  of  guns. 
Then  we  went  to  one  of  the  German  batteries  on  the  left  center. 
They  were  already  in  action,  though  it  w^as  only  6  o  'clock.  The 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  209 

men  got  the  range  from  observers  a  little  in  advance,  cun- 
ningly masked,  and  slowly,  methodically,  and  enthusiastically 
fed  the  guns  with  their  loads  of  death. 

''The  Eussians  didn't  have  our  range.  All  of  their  shells 
flew  screaming  1,000  yards  to  our  left.  Through  my  glasses  I 
watched  them  strike.  The  effect  on  the  hillock  was  exactly  as 
though  a  geyser  had  suddenly  spurted  up.  A  vast  cloud  of  dirt 
and  stones  and  grass  spouted  up,  and  when  the  debris  cleared 
away  a  great  hole  showed. 

RUSSIANS  TRY  NEW  RANGE 

** "While  we  watched  the  Eussians  seemed  to  tire  of  shoot- 
ing holes  in  an  inoffensive  hill.  They  began  to  try  chance 
shots  to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  It  wasn't  many  minutes 
before  I  realized  that,  standing  near  a  battery,  the  execution 
of  which  must  have  been  noted  on  the  Eussian  side,  I  had  a 
fine  chance  of  experiencing  shrapnel  bursting  overhead.  It 
Avas  a  queer  sensation  to  peer  through  field  glasses  and  see 
the  Eussian  shells  veer  a  few  hundred  feet  to  the  right.  I  saw 
one  strike  a  windmill,  shattering  the  long  arms  and  crumpling 
it  over  in  a  slow  burning  heap.  Then  we  beat  a  retreat,  further 
toward  the  center. 

' '  We  had  been  standing  behind  a  slight  declivity.  I  hadn  't 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  enemy.  Shells  were  the  only  things 
that  apprised  us  of  the  Eussian  nearness.  But  as  we  passed 
out  on  an  open  field,  considerably  out  of  range  of  the  field 
guns,  I  could  see  occasional  flashes  that  bespoke  field  pieces, 
a  mile  or  so  away. 

RUSSIAN  INFANTRY  CHARGES 

**Back  behind  us,  on  the  extreme  left,  I  was  told  the  Eus- 
sians were  attacking  the  German  trenches  by  an  infantry 
charge,  the  German  field  telephone  service  having  apprised  the 
commanders  along  the  front.  With  glasses  we  could  see  a  faint 
line  of  what  must  hav^  been  the  Eussian  infantry  rushing 
across  the  open  fields. 

*'We  passed  on  to  the  center,  going  slightly  to  the  rear  for 
horses.  As  we  arrived  at  the  right  wing  we  witnessed  the  last 
of  a  Eussian  infantry  advance  at  that  end.  The  wave  of  Eus- 
sians had  swept  nearly  to  the  German  trenches,  situated 
between  two  sections  of  field  artillery,  and  there  had  been 


210  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

repulsed.  Russians  were  smeared  across  in  front  of  these 
pits,  dead,  dying,  or  wounded — cut  down  by  the  terrible  spray 
of  German  machine  guns. 

"I  got  up  to  the  trenches  as  the  German  fire  slackened 
because  of  the  lack  of  targets.  The  Russians  had  gone  back. 
StrowTi  in  the  trenches  were  countless  empty  shells,  the  bullets 
of  which  had,  as  it  looked  to  inexpert  eyes,  slain  thousands. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  were  hundreds  of  dead  in  the  field 
ahead. 

GUN  BAEKELS  SIZZLING  HOT 

**  German  infantrymen  spat  on  their  rapid  firers  as  we 
reached  the  trench  and  delightedly  called  our  attention  to  the 
sizzle  that  told  how  hot  the  barrels  were  from  the  firing. 

''The  men  stretched  their  cramped  limbs,  helped  a  few 
wounded  to  the  rear,  and  waited  for  breakfast.  It  was  not 
long  forthcoming.  Small  lines  of  men  strugghng  along  under 
steaming  buckets  came  hurrying  up  to  the  accompaniment  of 
cheers  and  shouts.  They  bore  soup  that  the  men  in  the 
trenches  gulped  down  ravenously.  Meanwhile  men  with  the 
white  brassard  and  the  red  Geneva  cross  were  busy  out  in  the 
open,  lending  succor  to  the  Russian  wounded.  The  battle 
seemed  to  have  come  to  a  sudden  halt. 

''But  even  as  I  was  getting  soup,  the  artillery  fusillade 
broke  forth  again.  From  9  o  'clock  to  noon  the  Russians  hurled 
their  heavy  shells  at  the  German  trenches  and  the  German 
guns.    The  German  batteries  replied  slowly. 

"There  was  mighty  little  fuss  and  feathers  about  this  busi- 
ness of  dealing  death  from  guns.  The  crews  at  each  piece 
laughed  among  themselves,  but  there  were  none  of  the  pic- 
turesque shouts  of  command,  the  indiscriminate  blowing  of 
bugles,  and  the  flashy  waving  of  battle  flags  that  the  word 
battle  usually  conjures  up.  It  was  merely  a  deadly  business  of 
killing. 

' '  Over  to  the  right,  a  scant  300  yards  away,  the  Russians 
had  apparently  succeeded  in  getting  the  range.  As  I  watched 
through  the  glasses  I  saw  shrapnel  burst  over  the  battery 
there  and  watched  a  noncommissioned  soldier  fall  with  three 
of  his  comrades.  I  was  told  that  one  had  been  killed  and  three 
wounded.    The  Red  Cross  crew  came  up  and  bore  away  the 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  211 

four — tlie  dead  and  the  live — and  before  they  were  gone  the 
gun  was  speaking  away  with  four  fresh  men  working  it. 

"But  the  shrapnel  kept  bursting  away  over  it  and  soon  an 
orderly  came  riding  furiously  back  on  his  horse,  saluted  the 
officers  with  me,  and  shotL^:ed  as  he  hurried  back  to  the  artillery 
reserve :  *  Six  inch  shells  to  the  front ;  more  ammunition. ' 

*'I  went  back  to  see  the  wounded,  but  the  surgeon  wouldn't 
let  me.  I  expressed  to  him  my  wonder  at  the  few  wounded. 
I  had  seen  only  a  few  in  the  trenches,  and  no  German  dead 
until  I  saw  the  artilleryman  killed.  He  explained  that  the 
losses  on  the  German  side  were  light  because  the  trenches  were 
well  constructed  and  because  there  had  been  no  hand-to-hand, 
bayonet  to  bayonet  fighting. 

ATTACKS  BY  EUSSIAN  INFANTRY 

**  Yesterday,  my  first  day  at  Wirballen,  I  saw  the  third 
attempt  of  the  Russians  to  carry  the  German  center  by  storm. 
Twice  on  Wednesday  their  infantry  had  advanced  under  cover 
of  their  artillery,  only  to  be  repulsed.  Their  third  effort 
proved  no  more  successful. 

"The  preliminaries  were  well  under  way,  without  my 
appreciating  their  significance,  until  one  of  my  officer  escorts 
explained. 

"At  a  number  of  points  along  their  line,  observable  to  us, 
but  screened  from  the  observation  of  the  German  trenches  in 
the  center,  the  Russian  infantry  came  tumbling  out,  and,  rush- 
ing forward,  took  up  advanced  positions,  awaiting  the  forma- 
tion of  the  new  and  irregular  battle  line.  Dozens  of  light 
rapid-firers  were  dragged  along  by  hand.  Other  troops — the 
reserves — took  up  semi-advanced  positions.  All  the  while  the 
Russian  shrapnel  was  raining  over  the  German  trenches. 

' '  Finally  came  the  Russian  order  to  advance.  At  the  word 
hundreds  of  yards  of  the  Russian  fighting  line  leaped  forward, 
deployed  in  open  order,  and  came  on.  Some  of  them  came  into 
range  of  the  German  trench  fire  almost  at  once.  These  lines 
began  to  wilt  and  thin  out. 

MEN  PAUSE  ONLY  TO  FIBE 

"But  on  th©y  came,  all  along  the  line,  protected  and  unpro- 
tected alike,  rushing  forward  with  a  yell,  pausing,  firing,  and 
advancing  again. 


212  THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN 

''From  the  outset  of  the  advance  the  German  artillery, 
ignoring  for  the  moment  the  Russian  artillery  action,  began 
shelling  the  onrushing  mass  with  wonderfully  timed  shrapnel, 
which  burst  low  over  the  advancing  lines  and  tore  sickening 
gaps. 

"But  the  Russian  line  never  stopped.  For  the  third  time 
in  two  days  they  came  tearing  on,  ^dth  no  indication  of  having 
been  affected  by  the  terrible  consequences  of  the  two  previous 
charges.    As  a  spectacle  the  whole  thing  was  maddening. 

"On  came  the  Slav  swarm,  into  the  range  of  the  German 
trenches,  with  wild  yells  and  never  a  waver.  Russian  battle 
flags — the  first  I  had  seen — appeared  in  the  front  of  the  charg- 
ing ranks.  The  advance  line  thinned  and  the  second  line 
moved  up. 

"Nearer  and  nearer  they  swept  toward  the  German  posi- 
tions. And  then  came  a  new  sight.  A  few  seconds  later  came 
a  new  sound.  First  I  saw  a  sudden,  almost  grotesque  melting 
of  the  advancing  line.  It  was  different  from  anything  that 
had  taken  place  before.  The  men  literally  went  down  like 
dominoes  in  a  row.  Those  who  kept  their  feet  were  hurled 
back  as  though  by  a  terrible  gust  of  wind.  Almost  in  the 
second  that  I  pondered,  puzzled,  the  staccato  rattle  of  machine 
guns  reached  us.    My  ear  answered  the  query  of  my  eye. 

MACHINE  GUN  FIRE  TELLS 

"For  the  first  time  the  advancing  line  hesitated,  apparently 
bewildered.  Mounted  officers  dashed  along  the  line,  urging  the 
men  forward.  Horses  fell  with  the  men.  I  saw  a  dozen  rider- 
less horses  dashing  madly  through  the  lines,  adding  a  new 
terror.  Another  horse  was  obviously  running  away  with  his 
officer  rider.  The  crucial  period  for  the  section  of  the  charge 
on  which  I  had  riveted  my  attention  probably  lasted  less  than 
a  minute.  To  my  throbbing  brain  it  seemed  an  hour.  Then, 
with  the  withering  fire  raking  them  even  as  they  faltered,  the 
lines  broke.  Panic  ensued.  It  was  every  man  for  himself. 
The  entire  Russian  charge  turned  and  w^ent  tearing  back  to 
cover  and  the  shelter  of  the  Russian  trenches. 

"I  swept  the  entire  line  of  the  Russian  advance  with  my 
glasses — as  far  as  it  was  visible  from  our  position.    The  whole 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAMPAIGN  213 

advance  of  the  enemy  was  in  retreat,  making  for  its  intrenched 
position. 

DEAD  MEN  COVEB  ACEES 

** After  the  assault  had  failed  and  the  battle  had  resumed 
its  normal  trend  I  swept  the  field  with  my  glasses.  The  dead 
were  everywhere.  They  were  not  piled  up,  but  were  strewn 
over  acres.  More  horrible  than  the  sight  of  the  dead,  though, 
were  the  other  pictures  brought  up  by  the  glasses.  Squirming, 
tossing,  writhing  figures  everywhere  I  The  wounded !  All  who 
could  stumble  or  crawl  were  working  their  way  back  toward 
their  own  lines  or  back  to  the  friendly  cover  of  hills  or  wooded 
spots. 

*' After  the  charge  we  moved  along  back  of  the  German 
lines  at  a  safe  distance  and  found  the  hospital  corps  bringing 
back  the  German  wounded. 

"The  artillerymen  had  resumed  their  duel  and  as  we  came 
up  in  the  lee  of  the  outbuildings  of  a  deserted  farmhouse  a 
shell  struck  and  fired  the  farmhouse  immediately  in  front  of  us. 
As  we  paused  to  see  if  the  shot  was  a  chance  one,  or  if  the  Rus- 
sian gunners  had  actually  gotten  the  range,  a  regiment  of 
fresh  reserves,  young  men  who  had  jus1<  (Come  up  from  the  west, 
passed  us  on  their  way  to  get  their  baptism  of  fire. 

' '  Their  demeanor  was  more  suggestive  of  a  group  of  college 
students  going  to  a  football  game  than  the  serious  business 
on  which  they  were  bent.  They  were  singing  and  laughing, 
and  as  they  went  by  a  noncommissioned  officer  inquired  rather 
ruefully  whether  there  were  any  Russians  left  for  them. 

* '  Throughout  the  day  we  watched  the  fight  waged  from  the 
opposing  trenches  and  by  the  artillery. 

''Suddenly  at  sundown  the  fighting  ceased  as  if  by  mutual 
agreement.  As  I  write  this  I  can  see  occasional  flashes  of  light 
like  the  flare  of  giant  fireflies  out  over  the  scene  of  the  Russian 
charge — the  flashes  of  small  electrical  lamps  in  the  hands  of 
the  Russian  hospital  corps. 

"I'm  glad  I  don't  have  to  look  at  what  the  flashes  reveal 
out  there  in  the  night.  *  * 


CHAPTER  Xm 

THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN 

Declaration  of  War  hy  Austria — Bombardment  of  Belgrade — 
Servian  Capital  Removed — Seasoned  Soldiers  of  Servia 
Give  a  Good  Account  of  Themselves — Many  Indecisive 
Engagements — Servians  in  Austrian  Territory. 

FORMAL  declaration  of  war  against  Servia  was  proclaimed 
by  Austria  on  Tuesday,  July  28.  The  text  of  the  oflScial 
announcement  was  as  follows : 

**The  Royal  Government  of  Servia  not  having  given  a  sat- 
isfactory reply  to  the  note  presented  to  it  by  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Ministry  in  Belgrade  on  July  23, 1914,  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Government  of  Austria-Hungary  finds  it  necessary 
itself  to  safeguard  its  rights  and  interests  and  to  have  re- 
course for  this  purpose  to  the  force  of  arms.  Austria-Hun- 
gary, therefore,  considers  itself  from  this  moment  in  a  state 
of  war  with  Servia.** 

This  declaration  waa  signed  by  Count  Berchtold,  the  Aus- 
trian minister  for  foreign  affairs. 

The  events  that  immediately  preceded  the  declaration  of 
war,  as  summarized  in  a  previous  chapter,  were  as  follows : 

On  June  28  a  Slav  student  who  thought  he  was  a  patriot 
killed  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  heir  to  the  Austrian 
throne,  at  Serajevo,  the  capital  of  Bosnia,  which  had  been 
lately  made  a  province  of  Austria.  An  inquiry  was  begun 
in  which  evidence  was  introduced  to  show  that  the  assassin's 
work  was  part  of  a  plot  for  the  revolt  of  the  Southern  Slav 
provinces  of  Austria,  and  that  it  was  instigated  by  Servians, 
if  not  by  the  Servian  Government,  On  July  23,  however,  be- 
fore the  investigation  was  completed,  Austria  sent  an  ulti- 
matum to  Servia  demanding  that  it  use  every  means  in  its 

214 


THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN     215 

power  to  punisli  the  assassins  and  also  to  stop  all  further 
anti-Austrian  propaganda.  Austria  demanded  that  she  be 
permitted  to  have  representatives  in  the  work  of  investigation 
in  Servia. 

The  next  day,  July  24,  Eussia  joined  the  little  Slav  country 
in  asking  for  a  delay.    Austria  refused  to  grant  this. 

On  July  25,  ten  minutes  before  6  p.  m.,  the  hour  at  which 
the  ultimatum  expired,  the  Servian  premier,  M.  Pashitch,  gave 
his  reply  to  the  Austrian  ambassador  at  Belgrade.  Servia 
agreed  to  all  the  conditions  and  apologies  demanded  by  Aus- 
tria, except  the  requirement  that  Austrian  officials  should  be 
allowed  to  participate  in  the  inquiry  to  be  conducted  in  Servia 
into  the  assassination  of  the  Archduke.  Even  this  was  not 
definitely  refused. 

On  July  27  the  Austrian  foreign  office  issued  a  statement  in 
which  appeared  these  words : 

*'The  object  of  the  Servian  note  is  to  create  the  false  im- 
pression that  the  Servian  Government  is  prepared  in  great 
measure  to  comply  with  our  demands. 

*'As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Servia 's  note  is  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  dishonesty,  which  clearly  lets  it  be  seen  that  the 
Servian  Government  is  not  seriously  determined  to  put  an  end 
to  the  culpable  tolerance  it  hitherto  has  extended  to  intrigues 
against  the  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy." 

Russia  at  once  notified  Austria  that  it  could  not  permit 
Servian  territory  to  be  invaded.  It  was  then  realized  in 
Europe  that  the  great  Slav  nation  would  support  its  little 
brother.  Germany  let  it  be  known  that  no  other  country  must 
interfere  mth  the  Austro-Servian  embroglio,  which  meant 
that  Germany  was  prepared  to  back  Austria. 

An  eleventh-hour  proposal  by  the  British  foreign  secretary, 
Sir  Edward  Grey,  that  mediation  between  Servia  and  Austria 
be  undertaken  by  a  conference  of  the  Ambassadors  in  London, 
was  accepted  by  France  and  Italy,  but  declined  by  Germany 
and  Austria.  Then  next  day,  July  28,  came  Austria 's  declara- 
tion of  war,  which  soon  made  Europe  the  theater  of  the 
bloodiest  struggle  of  all  the  ages. 

SERVIA  AND  ITS  ASPIEATIONS 

Servia 's  reply  to  the  declaration  of  war  was  to  concentrate 


216     THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN 

a  strong  division  of  its  forces  in  tlie  Sanjak  of  Novi-Bazar, 
from  wliich  they  would  be  in  a  position  to  threaten  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  the  two  Balkan  provinces  that  Austria  had  lately- 
annexed.  It  was  also  reported  that  Servia  intended  to  invade 
Bosnia  with  the  object  of  enlisting  further  support  from  the 
Bosnian  Serbs,  who  were  said  to  be  on  the  point  of  rising 
against  Austria-Hungary. 

The  country  of  the  Servians  being  well  suited  for  defense, 
they  were  never  completely  overrun  by  the  Turks,  as  other 
Balkan  states  were,  and  as  a  consequence  they  still  retain,  like 
the  Greeks,  a  native  aristocracy  of  culture.  Physically,  they 
are  fairer  than  most  of  the  Balkan  Slavs  and  more  refined  in 
appearance.  By  temperament  they  are  light-hearted,  joyous, 
frivolous,  and  charming  to  deal  with. 

In  Servia  itself,  including  territory  acquired  in  recent  wars, 
there  are  about  4,500,000  Serbs.  In  Austria  there  are  about 
3,500,000  Serbs,  including  Croats  who  belong  to  the  Serv-ian 
race. 

The  Servians  have  long  dreamed  and  talked  and  written  of 
a  greater  Servia,  that  should  take  in  all  the  Servian  race. 
They  look  back  to  the  time  of  King  Stephen  Dushan,  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  when  Servia  was  supreme  in  the  Balkans 
and  was  nearly  as  advanced  in  civilization  as  the  most  ad- 
vanced nations  of  Europe.  The  re-establishment  of  this  an- 
cient kingdom  had  become  a  passion  with  the  Serbs — ^not  only 
with  those  in  Servia,  but  with  many  in  Hungary  as  well. 
Hence,  their  animus  against  Austria  and  Austrian  rule,  while 
Austria's  fight  was,  primarily,  for  the  preservation  and  solidi- 
fication of  her  heterogeneous  dominions;  secondarily,  for  re- 
venge for  the  Archduke 's  death.  Incidentally,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand  was  a  close 
personal  friend  of  the  German  Kaiser. 

THE  SERVIAN  ARMY 

The  Servian  forces  under  General  Kadumil  Putnik,  consist 
of  ten  divisions,  divided  into  four  army  corps,  with  a  peace 
footing  of  160,000  and  a  war  strength  of  over  380,000.  Most 
of  the  men  called  to  arms  against  Austria  were  veterans  of  the 
two  recent  Balkan  wars,  and  hence  probably  the  most  seasoned 
troops  in  Europe. 


THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN     217 

Tbe  rifle  of  the  Servian  army  is  the  Mauser,  model  of  1899, 
with  a  caliber  of  7  millimeters,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  Servia 
possessed  enough  of  them  to  arm  the  reserves.  The  Servian 
field  piece  is  a  quick-firing  gun  of  the  French  Schneider-Canet 
system.    The  army  has  some  350  modem  guns. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Servia  had  ten  of  the  most 
modern  aircraft,  but  she  had  not  developed  their  efficiency  to 
a  degree  at  which  they  would  be  of  much  material  benefit  to 
her  in  the  struggle. 

The  extremely  mountainous  nature  of  Servia  and  of  the 
adjacent  territory  of  Bosnia  make  military  movements  some- 
what slow  and  difficult,  especially  for  troops  unaccustomed  to 
mountain  warfare.  Compared  with  this  mountainous  region, 
the  district  of  Agram,  where  one  Austrian  army  corps  had  its 
headquarters,  is  easy  country  to  operate  in,  while  the  plain  of 
Hungary  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Danube  made  the  task  of 
concentrating  troops  an  easy  one  for  the  Austrians. 

Another  Austrian  army  corps  had  its  base  at  Serajevo  in 
Bosnia.  A  railway  to  the  northest  from  this  Bosnian  capital 
touches  the  Servian  border  at  Mokragora.  To  the  north  of 
this  point  lies  Kragujevac,  the  new  capital  of  Servia,  to  which 
King  Peter,  his  court  and  the  Government  repaired  from 
Belgrade  just  before  the  declaration  of  war.  Southeast  of  the 
new  capital  is  the  important  Servian  city  of  Nish. 

The  western  frontier  of  Servia  follows  the  windings  of  the 
Eiver  Drina,  a  tributary  of  the  Danube.  The  Danube  itself 
forms  part  of  the  northern  boundary  and  the  former  capital, 
Belgrade,  is  picturesquely  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Danube  at  its  junction  with  a  tributary.  Two  Austrian  fort- 
resses command  the  city  from  across  the  Danube.  On  the  plain 
of  Hungary  to  the  north  is  Temesvar,  an  important  point  at 
which  another  Austrian  army  corps  was  located. 

CHANCES  AGAINST  SEEVIA 

At  the  outset  the  chances  of  war  were  heavily  against 
Servia.  Such  artificial  defenses  as  she  possessed  were  on  the 
Bulgarian  frontier.  Many  of  her  troops  were  engaged  in 
endeavoring  to  establish  Servian  rule  among  the  neighboring 
peoples  in  her  new  Albanian  possessions.  Austria  was  pre- 
pared  to   bring   against   her   immediately    the   three    army 


218     THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN 

corps  from  Temesvar,  Serajcvo  and  Agram,  and  four  more 
corps,  from  Hermanstadt,  Budapest,  Graz,  and  Kaschau, 
within  a  fortnight.  Servia's  one  hope  appeared  to  be  the 
difficulty  of  the  country,  otherwise  she  could  not  oppose  for 
a  moment  the  advance  of  250,000  troops  supported  by  800 
pieces  of  artillery.  Then,  too,  Austria  had  warships  on  the 
Danube  and  it  was  partly  through  this  fact  that  it  was  decided 
by  the  Servian  Government  to  evacuate  Belgrade  and  to  retire 
to  Kragujevac,  sixty  miles  southeast. 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  seeming  futility  of  opposition, 
Servia,  encouraged  by  Russian  support,  prepared  for  a  strenu- 
ous campaign  against  the  Austrian  forces,  and  the  first  two 
months  of  the  war  ended  without  any  decisive  advantage  to 
Austria.  The  Servians,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed  numerous 
successes.  Their  task  was  lightened  by  the  Russian  invasion 
of  Austrian  territory  and  the  determined  advance  of  the  Czar's 
host,  which  demanded  the  fullest  strength  of  the  Austrian 
forces  to  resist.  As  the  Russians  hammered  their  enemy  in 
Galicia  the  spirits  of  the  Ser^dans  rose  and  their  seasoned 
soldiers  gave  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  every  encounter 
with  Austrian  troops.  They  crossed  the  Drina  and  carried 
the  war  into  Bosnia,  putting  up  a  stiff  fight  wherever  they 
encountered  the  enemy,  and  while  they  sustained  severe  losses 
in  killed  and  wounded  during  August  and  September,  the 
losses  they  inflicted  upon  the  Austrians  were  still  heavier. 

AUSTBIANS  BOMBAKD  BELGKADE 

The  Austrian  troops  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube  became 
active  soon  after  war  was  declared.  In  the  first  few  days  they 
seized  two  Servian  steamers  and  a  number  of  river  boats. 
Belgrade  was  bombarded  from  across  the  river  and  many  of 
its  pubhc  buildings,  churches  and  private  residences  suffered 
damage. 

The  hostile  armies  came  into  contact  for  the  first  time  on 
the  River  Drina,  between  Bosnia  and  Servia,  and  Vienna  was 
compelled  to  admit  defeat  in  this  preliminary  engagement  of 
the  war.  The  Servians  forced  a  passage  through  the  Austrian 
ranks,  but  only  at  the  cost  of  many  killed  and  wounded. 

When  Crown  Prince  Alexander  of  Servia  began  the  in- 
vasion of  Bosnia  in  earnest,  in  the  middle  of  August,  Austria 


THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN     219 

found  herself  at  a  disadvantage  because  of  the  necessity  of 
massing  moat  of  her  forces  against  the  Russians.  Eoumania 
and  Montenegro  were  then  preparing  to  join  the  Servians  in 
the  field  against  Austria. 

Later  in  August  the  Servians  captured  several  of  the 
enemy's  strongholds  in  Bosnia.  After  a  four-day  battle  on  the 
banks  of  the  Drina  the  Austrians  were  defeated  with  heavy- 
loss,  a  large  number  of  guns  and  prisoners  being  captured  by 
the  Servians.  The  Montenegrin  troops  repulsed  an  Austrian 
invading  force  and  took  several  hundred  prisoners  in  an  all- 
day  battle  on  the  frontier. 

Early  in  September  a  heavy  engagement  was  fought  by  the 
Servian  and  Austrian  armies  near  Jadar,  resulting  in  Servian 
victory.  It  was  claimed  that  the  Austrians  left  10,000  dead  on 
the  field  of  battle.  The  Servians  also  successfully  defended 
Belgrade,  which  had  been  bombarded  on  several  occasions. 
Fifteen  or  twenty  miles  west  of  Belgrade  on  the  Save  Eiver, 
an  Austrian  force  was  decisively  defeated  by  the  Servians, 
who  then  seemed  to  be  duplicating  the  successes  of  the  Russian 
army  against  Austria. 

The  attitude  of  Turkey  was  being  closely  watched  at  this 
time,  Greece  and  Bulgaria  being  prepared  to  enter  the  war 
against  the  Ottoman  Empire  if  the  latter  decided  on  bellig- 
erency, but  on  September  5  Turkey  again  declared  her  in- 
tention to  remain  neutral. 

SERVIANS  CAPTURE  SEMLIN 

Crossing  the  Save  River  into  Hungary,  the  Servians  scored 
a  brilliant  stroke  in  the  capture  of  Semlin,  an  important  Aus- 
trian city.  They  also  reported  continued  successes  in  Bosnia. 
Reports  of  wholesale  desertions  of  Slavs  from  the  Austrian 
army  were  received  daily  and  probably  had  considerable 
foundation  in  fact.  It  was  said  that  the  Servians  were  being 
received  enthusiastically  by  the  people  of  Hungary .^ 

These  Servian  triumphs  led  to  t-he  reorganization  of  the 
Balkan  League,  including  Servia,  Montenegro,  Bulgaria  and 
Greece. 

On  September  20  the  Servian  Government  announced  that 
an  Austrian  attacking  army  which  att3mpted  to  cross  the 
frontier  near  the  Sabatz  Mountains  had  been  routed  with  a 


220     THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN 

loss  of  15,000  killed  and  wounded.  The  Servian  losses  in  this 
and  other  engagements  were  claimed  to  have  been  small  in 
comparison  with  those  of  the  enemy. 

Continuing  their  forward  movement  into  Hungary,  the 
Servians  inflicted  further  losses  on  the  Austrians  near  No- 
viapazow,  while  the  Montenegrins  reported  a  victory  in  the 
mountain  slopes  over  their  border. 

On  October  1  it  was  reported  that  the  Servians  had  again 
repulsed  an  Austrian  attempt  at  invasion  and  had  driven  the 
Austrians  back  across  the  Drina  with  loss.  They  had  also 
checked  another  Austrian  attempt  to  take  Belgrade.  The 
Sei'^aan  war  office  claimed  that  the  combined  Servian-Monte- 
negrin armies  had  made  material  progress  in  their  invasion  of 
Bosnia-Herzegovina,  and  that  they  were  within  striking  dis- 
tance of  Serajevo,  which  they  expected  to  capture.  This,  how- 
ever, was  denied  by  the  Vienna  ministry  of  war,  which  claimec* 
that  the  Servian  situation  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  Austria. 

On  October  5  Servian  troops  were  reported  to  have  begun 
a  northeast  advance  from  Semlin,  to  effect  a  junction  with  two 
Russian  columns  advancing  southward  in  Hungary.  One  of 
these  columns  was  then  assaulting  a  fortress  in  Northwest 
Hungary,  sixty-six  miles  southeast  of  Olmutz,  while  the  other 
was  descending  the  valley  of  the  Nagyan  against  Huszt  in  the 
province  of  Marmaros.  This  latter  pro\dnce  or  county,  which 
the  Russians  invaded  through  the  Carpathian  passes,  lies  in 
the  northeast  of  Hungary,  bordering  on  Galieia,  Bukowina  and 
Transylvania.  There  was  a  legend  that  the  eastern  Car- 
pathians are  impregnable,  but  this  legend  was  destroyed  by 
the  Russian  invasion. 

Before  attaining  Uzsok  pass,  in  the  Carpathians,  the  Rus- 
sians successively  captured  by  a  wide  flanking  movement  three 
well-masked  positions  w^hich  were  strongly  defended  by  guns. 
Each  time  the  Russians  charged  the  enemy  fled  and  the  Rus- 
sians followed  up  the  Austrian  retreat  with  shrapnel  and 
quick  fire,  inflicting  heavy  losses. 

German  troops  joined  the  Austrian  forces  in  Hungary  and 
at  some  points  succeeded  in  repulsing  the  invaders,  though 
their  general  advance  was  not  decisively  checked  and  they  con- 
tinued the  endeavor  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  Servians  to 
the  south.    Advices  from  Budapest,  October  6,  declared  that 


THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN     221 

the  Russians  had  captured  Marmaros-Sziget,  capital  of  the 
county  of  Marmaros,  necessitating  the  removal  of  the  govern- 
ment of  that  department  to  Huszt,  twenty-eight  miles  west- 
northwest  of  Sziget.  A  second  Eussian  column  was  reported 
to  be  threatening  Huszt  and  Austro-German  reinforcements 
were  being  hurried  up  to  check  the  Eussian  advance. 

ATROCITIES   IN   SERBIA   CONFIRMED   BY  AMERICAN"   OFFICER 

Unspeakable  brutalities  were  practiced  in  Serbia  by  the 
Germans,  according  to  Major  W.  H.  Cressy,  an  American, 
who  served  as  a  medical  officer  in  the  Serbian  army  and  who 
recently  returned  from  the  war  zone  after  four  years  with 
Allied  forces. 

Major  Cressy,  on  February  20,  1919,  addressed  700 
clergymen  who  were  viewing  the  picture  "Eavished  Ar- 
menia ' '  in  New  York  City. 

''The  day  after  we  captured  Monastir  I  went  with  some 
other  officers  into  a  room  where  we  found  a  group  of  young 
women,  who  were  about  to  become  mothers,  seated  around  a 
circular  table.  Their  tongues  had  been  pulled  out  and  spiked 
to  the  table. 

''I  have  seen  children  with  their  arms  and  legs  cut  off  and 
some  with  their  eyes  gouged  out.  One  favored  form  of  pun- 
ishment was  to  tie  the  victim  to  the  wheel  of  a  commissary 
cart  so  that  his  head  struck  the  ground  at  every  revolution  of 
the  wheel.  I  have  found  countless  Serbians  crucified  with 
nails  to  the  trunks  of  trees." 

The  officer  warned  the  clergymen  to  watch  for  German 
propaganda.  ''Only  last  week,"  he  said,  "I  held  in  my  hand 
an  Iron  Cross  of  the  first  class.  It  was  one  of  those  sent  to 
this  country  to  fourteen  'loyal  Americans'  for  rendering  val- 
iant service  to  the  Fatherland." 

Dr.  Cressy  served  for  twenty-six ,  months  in  the  Serbian 
army.  He  has  worked  in  the  little  country  which  stood  in  the 
way  of  Prussian  control  of  the  Balkans  and  saved  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  Suez  Canal  to  the  Allies.  He  saw  the  muti- 
lated, diseased,  and  starved  32,000  Serbians  who  returned 
from  the  war,  a  remnant  of  the  original  400,000  Serbian  army. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
STOEIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

Thrilling  Incidents  of  the  Great  War  Told  hy  Actual  Com" 
batants — Personal  Experiences  from  the  Lips  of  Sur- 
vivors of  the  World's  Bloodiest  Battles — Tales  of 
Prisoners  of  War,  Wounded  Soldiers  and  Refugees 
Rendered  Homeless  in  Blighted  Arena  of  Conflict. 

HAND-TO-HAND  FIGHTING 

CAVALRY  fighting  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Marne  in 
the  year  1914  was  almost  identical  with  the  charge  in 
the  days  when  Hannibal's  Numidian  horse  charged  at 
Romans  at  Lake  Trasimene,  or  when  Charles  Martel  and  the 
chivalry  of  France  worsted  the  Moors  and  saved  Europe  on 
the  plains  of  Tours. 

A  good  description  of  a  cavalry  charge  was  given  by 
Private  Capel  of  the  Third  British  Hussars,  a  veteran  of  the 
Boer  war,  who  took  part  in  the  fighting  beginning  at  Mons 
and  was  separated  from  his  regiment  in  a  charge  at  Coulom- 
miers,  in  the  battle  of  the  Marne,  when  his  horse  fell. 

**You  hear,"  said  he,  **the  enemy's  bugles  sounding  the 
charge.  Half  a  mile  away  you  see  the  Germans  coming  and 
it  seems  that  in  an  instant  they  will  be  on  you.  You  watch 
fascinated  and  cold  with  a  terror  that  makes  you  unable  to 
lift  an  arm  or  do  anything  but  wait  and  tremble. 

*'They  come  closer  and  still  you  are  horrorstruck.  Then 
you  feel  your  horse  fretting  and  suddenly  you  start  from  your 
daze,  and  fear  changes  suddenly  to  hate.  Your  hand  goes  to 
the  saber  hilt,  your  teeth  clinch  and  you  realize  that  you  must 
strike  hard  before  the  enemy,  who  is  now  very  close,  can 
strike.    Every  muscle  tightens  with  the  waiting. 

**  Before  your  own  bugles  have  sounded  two  notes  of  the 
charge  you  find  yourself  leaning  forward  over  the  neck  of 

222 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    223 

your  galloping  horse.  All  the  rest  is  a  mad  gallop,  yells  of 
the  enemy  and  your  own  answer^  a  terrible  shock  in  which  you 
are  almost  dismounted,  and  then  you  find  yourself  face  to  face 
with  a  single  opponent  who,  standing  up  in  the  stirrups,  is 
about  to  split  your  head.  You  notice  that  you  are  striking 
like  a  fiend  mth  the  saber. 

"After  that  madness  passes  it  seems  almost  like  a  complex 
maneuver  and  soon  you  find  yourself  riding  for  dear  life — 
perhaps  to  escape,  perhaps  after  the  Germans.  You  then 
reahze  that  you  have  been  whipped  and  that  the  charge  has 
failed,  or  you  see  the  backs  of  the  fleeing  enemy,  feel  your 
horse  straining  in  pursuit  and  know  that  you  have  gained  a 
victory. ' ' 

FRIGHTFUL  MORTALITY  AMONG  OFFICERS 

The  official  reports  of  the  loss  of  life  in  the  battles  in 
France  tell  of  the  large  number  of  officers  killed.  Sharp- 
shooters on  both  sides  have  had  instructions  to  aim  at  officers. 
These  sharpshooters  are  often  concealed  far  in  advance  of 
their  troops.  Their  small  number  and  their  smokeless  powder 
make  their  discovery  most  difficult.  This  lesson  was  learned 
at  great  cost  to  the  British  during  the  Boer  war. 

Dispatches  from  Bordeaux  stated  that  letters  found  on 
dead  and  captured  German  officers  prove  the  truth  of  reports 
regarding  the  terrible  mortality  in  the  German  ranks,  espe- 
cially among  officers.  In  the  Tenth  and  Imperial  Guard  Corps 
of  the  German  army  it  is  said  that  only  a  few  high  ranking- 
officers  escaped  being  shot,  and  many  have  been  killed.  The 
German  officers  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their  cour- 
age, according  to  the  stories  of  both  British  and  French  who 
fought  them. 

An  officer  of  an  Imperial  Guard  regiment,  who  was  taken 
prisoner  after  being  wounded,  said : 

"My  regiment  left  for  the  front  with  sixty  officers;  it 
counts  today  only  five.    We  underwent  terrible  trials." 

A  German  artillery  officer  wrote : 

"Modern  war  is  the  greatest  of  follies.  Companies  of 
250  men  in  the  Tenth  Army  Corps  have  been  reduced  to 
seventy  men,  and  there  are  companies  of  the  guard  com- 
manded by  volunteers  of  a  year,  all  the  officers  having  dis- 
appeared. '  * 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

SAYS  GEEMANS  FOUGHT  EVERY  DAY 

The  following  is  from  a  letter  written  during  the  pro- 
longed battle  of  the  Aisne  bj  a  lieutenant  of  the  Twenty-sixth 
German  Artillery : 

' '  The  Tenth  Corps  has  been  constantly  in  action  since  the 
opening  of  the  campaign.  Nearly  all  our  horses  have  fallen. 
We  fight  every  day  from  5  in  the  morning  till  8  at  night, 
without  eating  or  drinking.  The  artillery  fire  of  the  French 
is  frightful.  We  get  so  tired  that  we  cannot  ride  a  horse,  even 
at  a  walk.  Toward  noon  our  battery  was  literally  under  a 
rain  of  shrapnel  shells  and  that  lasted  for  three  days.  We 
hope  for  a  decisive  battle  to  end  the  situation,  for  our  troops 
cannot  rest.  A  French  aviator  last  night  threw  four  bombs, 
killing  four  men  and  wounding  eight,  and  killing  twenty  horses 
and  wounding  ten  more.  We  do  not  receive  any  more  mail, 
for  the  postal  automobiles  of  the  Tenth  Corps  have  been  de- 
stroyed. ' ' 

HOW  IT  FEELS  TO  BE  WOUNDED 

Many  men  in  the  trenches  have  proved  themselves  heroes 
in  the  war.    A  wounded  British  private  told  this  story : 

''We  lay  in  the  trench,  my  friend  and  I,  and  when  the  order 
to  fire  came  we  shot,  and  shot  till  our  rifles  burned  up.    Still 
the  Germans  swarmed  on  toward  us,  and  then  my  friend  re- 
ceived a  bad  wound.    I  turned  to  my  work  again,  continuing 
to  shoot  slowly.    Then  I  rose  a  little  too  high  on  my  shoulder. 
''JDo  you  know  what  it  is  like  to  be  wounded?    A  httle 
sting  pierced  my  arm  like  a  hot  wire ;  too  sharp  almost  to  be 
sore,  and  my  rifle  fell  from  me.     I  looked  at  my  friend  then 
and  he  was  dead." 

In  one  casualty  list  made  public  by  the  British  war  office 
in  September,  sixteen  officers  were  reported  killed,  thirty-eight 
wounded  and  ten  missing.  The  famous  Coldstream  Guards 
and  the  Black  Watch  regiments  were  among  the  sufferers. 

now  GENERAL,  FINDLEY  DIED 

A  correspondent  in  France  described  the  death  of  General 
Neil  Douglas  Findley  of  the  British  Royal  Artillery  as  fol- 
lows : 

''When  at  da^vn  the  British  advance  continued  toward 
Soissons  the  enemy  was  fighting  an  exceptionally  fierce  rear- 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD   225 

guard  action.  A  terrible  shell  fire  was  directed  against  our 
artillery  under  General  Findley,  temporarily  situated  in  a 
valley  by  the  village  of  Prise.  It  seemed  a  matter  of  moments 
when  we  should  have  to  spike  our  guns  and  General  Findley 
saw  the  urgency  for  action. 

''  'Boys,'  his  voice  echoed  down  the  line,  *we  are  going  to 
get  every  gun  into  position.'  Then  deliberately  the  general 
approached  a  regimental  chaplain  kneeling  beside  a  gunner. 
*Here  are  some  of  my  personal  belongings,  chaplain.  See  that 
they  don't  go  astray.' 

'  *  One  by  one  our  guns  began  to  blaze  away  and  the  general 
had  a  word  of  encouragement  and  advice  for  every  man.  In 
vain  his  staff  tried  to  persuade  him  to  leave  the  danger  zone. 

*'Our  range  was  perfect,  the  German  fire  slackened  and 
died  away  and  with  a  yell  our  men  prepared  to  advance.  The 
outburst  came  too  soon,  one  parting  shell  exploding  in  a 
contact  with  Findley 's  horse,  shattering  man  and  beast. 


>) 


KILLED  FOE  IN"  EEVOLVEK  DUEL 

While  their  men  battled  on  a  road  near  Antwerp,  it  is  said 
that  a  Belgian  cavalry  sergeant  and  an  officer  of  German 
Uhlans  fought  a  revolver  duel  which  ended  when  the  Belgian 
killed  his  foe,  sending  a  bullet  into  his  neck  at  close  range. 

The  daring  Uhlans  had  approached  close  to  the  Antwerp 
fortifications  on  a  reconnoitering  expedition.  They  w^ere  seen 
by  a  small  Belgian  force,  which  immediately  went  out  on  the 
road  to  give  battle.  As  they  neared  each  other,  the  German 
commander  shouted  a  jibe  at  the  Belgian  sergeant.  There 
was  no  answer,  but  the  sergeant  rode  at  a  gallop  straight  for 
the  Uhlan.  Miraculously  escaping  the  shots  aimed  at  him,  he 
drew  up  alongside  the  offiicer  and  informed  him  that  his  life 
was  to  be  forfeited  for  the  insulting  words  he  had  uttered. 
Both  began  firing  with  their  revolvers,  while  at  the  same  tim§^ 
their  men  clashed. 

Only  a  few  of  the  soldiers  witnessed  the  thrilling  duel,  for  ' 
they  themselves  were  fighting  desperately.  After  their  offi- 
cer's death  the  Uhlans  withdrew,  leaving  a  number  of  dead. 
Someone  carried  word  of  the  duel  to  King  Albert,  who  had 
just  arrived  in  Antwerp,  and  he  called  before  him  and  per- 
sonally congratulated  the  sergeant,  Henri  Pyppes.    The  latter 


226    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

was  wounded  in  the  arm  by  one  of  the  Uhlan's  bullets,  but  he 
refused  to  be  taken  to  the  hospital  and  remained  on  duty  in 
the  field. 

LITTLE  STORIES  FROM  FRANCE 

Count  Guerry  de  Beauregard,  a  French  veteran  of  the 
war  of  1870,  thus  announced  the  death  of  a  son  at  the  front : 
**One  son  already  has  met  the  death  of  the  brave  beyond  the 
frontier  at  the  head  of  a  squadron  of  the  Seventh  Hussars. 
Others  will  avenge  him.  Another  of  my  sons,  an  artilleryman, 
is  with  the  general  staff.  My  eldest  son  is  with  the  Twenty- 
first  Chasseurs.    Long  live  France!" 

A  wounded  French  soldier  who  was  taken  to  Marseilles 
verified  a  remarkable  story  of  his  escape  from  death  while 
fighting  in  German  Lorraine.  The  soldier  owes  his  hfe  to  a 
small  bust  of  Emperor  William,  which  he  picked  up  in  a  vil- 
lage school  and  placed  in  his  haversack.  A  German  bullet 
struck  the  bust  and,  thus  deflected,  inflicted  only  a  slight 
wound  on  the  soldier. 

Twenty  German  prisoners  taken  during  the  melee  near 
Crecy,  were  herded  together  in  a  clearing,  their  rifles  being 
stacked  nearby.  In  a  rash  moment  they  thought  that  they 
were  loosely  guarded  and  made  a  combined  rush  for  the 
rifles.  ''They  will  never  make  another,"  was  the  laconic  re- 
port of  the  guard. 

SAYS  DEAD  FILLED  THE  MEUSB 

Edouard  Helsey  of  the  Paris  newspaper,  Le  Journal,  re- 
ported to  be  serving  with  the  colors,  wrote  under  date  of 
August  29: 

''It  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  number  of  Germans 
killed  last  week.  Whole  regiments  were  annihilated  at  some 
points.  They  came  out  of  the  woods  section  by  section.  One 
section,  one  shell — and  everything  was  wiped  out. 

"At  two  or  three  places  which  I  am  forbidden  to  name 
corpses  filled  the  Meuse  until  the  river  overflowed.  This  is 
no  figure  of  speech.  The  river  bed  literally  was  choked  by 
the  mass  of  dead  Germans.  The  effect  of  our  artillery  sur- 
passes even  our  dreams." 


FOUNDERING  OF  THE  BRITISH  CRUISER  ABOUKIR 
A  few  minutes  after  the  Aboukir  was  struck  by  a  torpedo  from  the  German  submarine 
U-9  eariy  on  September  22,  1914,  she  listed  to  port  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  and  the  captain 
sang  out  from  the  bridge:  "Every  man  for  himself!"  The  drawing  depicts  the  scene  that 
followed,  as  described  by  a  survivor.  Two-thirds  of  the  crew  of  650  were  drowned  or  killed 
by  the  explosion.  The  boats  of  the  cruisers  Hogue  and  Cressy,  which  were  soon  after  also 
torpedoed  and  sunk,  are  seen  coming  to  the  rescue.  The  total  loss  was  over  1,400  lives. — 
Drawn  by  Charles  Dixon,  R.  I.,  for  The  Graphic. 


L 


1 1  inliiHiiifit**'^'*''^'^'***"-"  ■■- 


J 


Top — One  of  the  fast  "Whippets,"  or  email  British  tanks,  that  created  havoc  and 
terror  in  the  German  ranks  in  1918.  They  precede  the  Infantry  and  completely  destroy 
machine  grun  nests.      (British  Official  Photo  from  I.  F.  8.) 

Bottom — The  first  Amerlcan-buUt  tamk.  called  the  "America,"  hlgfeat  of  all,  weifhln^ 
41  toofl  and  propelled  by  stMun.      (Copyright,  V.  i  V.) 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD     227 

DETROIT  AETIST's   NAEROW  ESCAPE 

Lawrence  Stem  Stevens,  an  artist  of  Detroit,  narrowly 
escaped  death  near  Aix-la-Chapelle  at  the  hands  of  a  crazed 
German  lieutenant,  by  whom  he  was  suspected  of  being  a  spy. 

Stevens  left  Brussels  on  Aug.  24  in  an  automobile.  He 
was  accompanied  by  a  photographer  and  a  Belgian  newspaper 
correspondent,  and  his  intention  had  been  to  make  sketches  on 
the  battlefield.  His  arrest  at  Laneffe  thwarted  this  plan.  He 
underwemt  a  terrifying  ordeal  at  the  hands  of  his  demented 
captor,  although  he  was  not  actually  injured. 

On  the  evening  of  Aug.  24  he  was  court-martialed  and  sen- 
tenced to  death  and  held  in  close  confinement  over  night. 
Early  on  the  morning  of  Aug.  25  he  was  led  out,  as  he  sup- 
posed, to  be  shot,  but  the  plans  had  been  changed  and  instead 
he  was  taken  before  Gen.  von  Arnim.  After  being  forced  to 
march  with  German  troops  for  two  days,  Stevens  fell  in  with 
a  party  of  American  correspondents  at  Beaumont,  from  which 
point  he  traveled  to  Aix-la-Chapelle  on  a  prison  train,  and 
eventually  reached  Rotterdam  and  safety. 

SAD  PLIGHT  OF  FRENCH  FUGITIVES 

M.  Brieux,  the  noted  French  dramatist,  who  witnessed  the 
arrival  at  Chartres  of  a  train  full  of  fugitives  who  had  fled 
from  their  homes  before  the  German  advance,  described  his 
experience  for  the  Figaro.  The  fleeing  people  gathered  round 
him  and  told  him  stories  and  he  wrote  his  impressions  as 
follows : 

''Children  weep  or  gaze  wide-eyed,  wondering  what  is  the 
matter.  Old  folks  sit  in  gloomy  silence.  Women  with  hag- 
gard cheeks  and  disheveled  hair  seem  to  belong  to  another 
age. 

''They  tell  of  invaders  who  scattered  powder  around  or 
threw  petroleum  into  their  houses  and  then  set  them  afire. 

"And  when  did  this  happen?  Yesterday!  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  centuries  ago  in  distant  climes,  but  yesterday,  and 
quite  near  to  us.  Yet  one  cannot  believe  it  was  really  yester- 
day that  these  things  were  done." 


228    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

One  of  the  fugitives  explained  to  M.  Brieux  why  after  the 
first  hour  of  their  flight  she  had  to  carry  her  elder  child  as 
well  as  her  baby.    She  showed  him  a  pair  of  boots. 

'  ^  I  felt  the  inside  with  my  fingers, ' '  says  Brieux.  *  *  Nails 
had  come  through  the  soles.  I  looked  at  the  child's  feet. 
They  were  dirty  mth  red  brown  clots.    It  was  blood. ' ' 

CHAUNCEY  DEPEW  ON  A  RUNNING-BOAED 

Chauncey  M.  Depew,  former  United  States  Senator  for 
Xew  York,  was  in  Geneva  when  the  trouble  began.  He  said  on 
his  return :  "After  crossing  the  border  into  France  we  picked 
up  men  joining  the  colors  on  the  way  to  Paris,  until  our  train 
could  hold  no  more. 

*' Whenever  I  stuck  my  head  into  a  corridor  the  soldiers 
would  set  up  a  cheer  on  seeing  my  side  whiskers.  They  mis- 
took me  for  an  Englishman  and  cried:  *Long  live  the  entente 
cordiale!" 


lis  THE  ** VALLEY  OF  DEATH*' 

The  fiercest  fighting  of  all  that  preceded  the  Eussian  vic- 
tory at  Lublin  was  in  a  gorge  near  the  village  of  Mikolaiff, 
which  the  Eussian  soldiers  reverently  named  the  ''Valley  of 
Death." 

The  gorge  was  full  of  dead  men,  lying  in  heaps,  accord- 
ing to  an  officer  who  participated  in  the  battle.  ''When  we 
attacked  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,"  he  said,  "the  gorge 
contained  15,000  Austrians,  a  large  proportion  of  whom 
were  mowed  dowm  by  the  artillery  fire  which  plowed  through 
the  valley  in  the  darkness.  The  Austrians  surrendered  and  we 
entered  the  gorge  to  receive  their  arms,  while  their  general 
stood  quietly  on  a  hill  watching  the  scene.  Eight  of  his 
standards  being  turned  over  to  the  Eussians  was  more  than 
he  could  bear,  for  he  drew  a  pistol  and  shot  himself." 

GENERAL    USE    OF    KHAKI    UNIFORMS 

The  war  put  everybody  into  khaki,  with  a  few  exceptions. 
On  the  battle  line  or  in  the  field  the  English  soldier  and  the 
English  officer  get  out  of  their  richly  colored  and  historic 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    229 

uniforms  and  into  kliaki,  of  a  neutral  hue.  The  Germans  are 
in  gray.  The  Austrians  have  most  of  their  soldiers  in  khaki, 
and  the  Eussians  all  wear  khaki-colored  cloth.  The  French 
still  cling  to  their  blue  coats  and  brilliant  red  trousers,  al- 
though steps  are  being  taken  to  reclothe  the  army  in  more 
modern  fashion,  and  the  Belgians  have  a  uniform  that  is  very 
similar  to  the  French. 

The  French  and  Belgian'^officers  are  dangerously  orna- 
mented with  gilt  trimmings  during  warfare  and  present  such 
brilliant  targets  that  some  of  the  Belgian  regiments  during 
hard  fighting  with  the  Germans  have  lost  nearly  all  of  their 
leaders. 

The  new  twentieth  century  mode  of  warfare  puts  the  ban 
on  anything  that  glitters,  even  the  rifle  barrels,  bayonets  and 
sabers. 

A  BELGIAN  BOY  HERO 

On  a  cot  in  the  Red  Cross  hospital  at  Ostend,  September 
12,  lay  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  war.  He  is  Sergeant  van  der 
Bern  of  the  Belgian  army,  and  only  17  years  old.  He  was 
only  a  corporal  when  he  started  out  with  twenty-nine  men 
on  a  reconnoitering  expedition  during  which  he  was  wounded, 
but  displayed  such  valor  that  his  bravery  was  publicly  re- 
lated to  all  the  soldiers,  and  Van  der  Bern  was  promoted. 

Van  der  Bern  and  his  little  command  came  suddenly  upon 
a  band  of  fifty  Uhlans  while  on  their  expedition.  Outnum- 
bered, his  men  turned  and  fled.  The  corporal  shouted  to  them 
and  dashed  alone  toward  the  Germans.  The  other  Belgians 
rallied  and  threw  themselves  upon  the  Uhlans.  Within  a  few 
minutes  only  Van  der  Bern  and  two  others  of  his  command 
remained.  Twenty-seven  Belgians  were  dead  or  wounded. 
"Within  a  few  minutes  more  the  corporal's  companions  fell, 
mortally  wounded.  Then  the  boy  picked  them  up  and  dis- 
playing almost  superhuman  strength  carried  them  to  safety. 
As  he  was  making  his  retreat,  burdened  by  the  two  wounded 
men,  Van  der  Bern  was  hit  twice  by  German  bullets.  He 
staggered  on,  placed  his  men  in  charge  of  the  Red  Cross  and 
without  a  word  walked  to  headquarters  and  reported  the 
engagement.    Then  he  fell  in  a  faint. 


230    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

WHEN   THE   GERMANS   EETREATED 

A  vivid  description  of  the  rout  and  retreat  of  the  Ger- 
mans during  hurricane  and  rain  on  September  10,  which 
turned  the  roads  into  river  ways  so  that  the  wheels  of  the 
artillery  sank  deep  in  the  mire,  was  given  by  a  correspondent 
writing  from  a  point  near  Melun.  He  described  how  the 
horses  strained  and  struggled,  often  in  vain,  to  drag  the  guns 
away,  and  continued : 

**I  have  just  spoken  with  a  soldier  who  has  returned 
wounded  from  the  pursuit  that  will  go  down  with  the  terrible 
retreat  from  Moscow  as  one  of  the  crowning  catastrophes 
of  the  world.  They  fled,  he  declares,  as  animals  flee  who  are 
cornered,  and  know  it. 

^  ''Imagine  a  roadway  littered  with  guns,  knapsacks,  car- 
tridge belts,  Maxims  and  heavy  cannons  even.  There  were 
miles  and  miles  of  it.  And  the  dead — those  piles  of  horses 
and  those  stacks  of  men!  I  have  seen  it  again  and  again, 
men  shot  so  close  to  one  another  that  they  remained  standing 
after  death.  The  sight  was  terrible  and  horrible  beyond 
words. 

''The  retreat  rolls  back  and  trainload  after  trainload  of 
British  and  French  are  swept  toward  the  weak  points  of  the 
retreating  host.  This  is  the  advantage  of  the  battleground 
which  the  Allies  have  chosen.  The  network  of  railways  is 
like  a  spider's  web.  As  all  railways  center  upon  Paris,  it  is 
possible  to  thrust  troops  upon  the  foe  at  any  point  with  al- 
most incredible  speed,  and  food  and  munitions  are  within 
arm's  reach." 

PRINCE    JOACHIM    WOUNDED 

Prince  Joachim,  youngest  son  of  Emperor  William,  was 
wounded  during  a  battle  with  the  Russians  and  taken  to 
Berlin.  On  September  15  it  was  reported  from  Berlin  that 
the  wound  was  healing  rapidly,  despite  the  tearing  effect 
of  a  shrapnel  ball  through  the  thigh.  The  empress  and  the 
surgeons  were  having  considerable  trouble  in  keeping  the 
patient  quiet  in  bed.  He  wanted  to  get  on  his  feet  again  and 
insisted  that  he  ought  to  be  able  to  rejoin  his  command  at  the 
front  in  about  a  fortnight. 

"The  prince  treats  the  wound  as  a  trifle,"  said  the  Berlin 
dispatch.    ' '  He  smihngly  greeted  an  old  palace  servant  whom 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    231 

lie  had  known  since  childliood  with  the  remark:   *Ain  I  not 
a  lucky  dog?'  " 

From  an  officer  who  was  with  Prince  Joachim  when  he 
was  wounded  the  following  description  of  the  incident  was 
obtained : 

"It  was  during  the  hottest  part  of  the  battle,  shortly 
before  the  Russian  resistance  was  broken,  that  the  prince, 
who  was  with  the  staff  as  information  officer,  was  dispatched 
to  the  firing  line  to  learn  how  the  situation  stood.  He  rode  off 
with  Adjutant  Captain  von  Tahlzahn  and  had  to  traverse 
the  distance,  aloaost  a  mile,  under  a  heavy  hail  of  shell  and 
occasional  volleys. 

"As  the  Russian  artillery  was  well  served  and  knew  all 
the  ranges  from  previous  measurements,  the  ride  was  not  a 
particularly  pleasant  one,  but  he  came  through  safely  and 
stood  talking  with  the  officers  when  a  shrapnel  burst  in  their 
vicinity.  The  prince  and  the  adjutant  were  both  hit,  the 
latter  receiving  contusions  on  the  leg,  but  the  shot  not  pene- 
trating. 

"To  stop  and  whip  out  an  emergency  bandage  which  the 
prince,  like  every  officer  and  private,  carries  sewed  inside 
the  blouse,  and  bind  it  around  the  thigh  to  check  the  bleeding 
was  the  work  of  but  a  moment.  It  was  a  long  and  dangerous 
task,  however,  to  get  him  back  to  the  first  bandaging  station, 
about  a  mile  to  the  rear,  under  fire  and  from  there  he  was 
transported  to  the  advanced  hospital  at  Allenstein,  where  he 
remained  until  he  was  able  to  travel. 

"Prince  Joachim,  who  was  already  recommended  for  the 
Iron  Cross  for  bravery  before  Namur,  received  the  decora- 
tion shortly  before  he  was  wounded.  The  prince,  who  has 
many  friends  in  America,  conveyed  through  his  adjutant  his 
thanks  for  assurances  of  American  sympathy  and  interest.'* 

EX-EMPRESS  DEVOTED, TO  FRANCE 

The  aged  ex-Empress  Eugenie  of  France,  widow  of  Na- 
poleon m,  has  been  living  for  many  years  in  retirement  in 
the  county  of  Hampshire,  England.  She  was  recently  visited 
by  Lord  Portsmouth,  an  old  friend,  who  found  the  illustrious 
lady  full  of  courage  and  devotion  to  the  French  cause  in  the 


232    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 


^r.* 


present  war.     In  explaining  her  failure  to  treat  her  guest 
as  she  would  have  desired,  the  empress  said : 

''I  cannot  give  you  dinner  because  most  of  the  men  of  my 
kitchen  have  gone  to  war." 

A  ''battleship  on  wheels" 

Just  before  the  war  France  added  to  its  equipment  the 
most  modern  of  fighting  devices.  It  is  a  train  of  armored 
cars  with  rapid-fire  guns,  conning  towers  and  fighting  tops. 
As  a  death-dealing  war  apparatus  it  is  the  most  unique  of 
anything  used  by  any  of  the  nations.  This  "battleship"  on 
wheels  consists  of  an  armored  locomotive,  two  rapid-fire  gun 
carriages  and  two  armored  cars  for  transporting  troops. 
The  rapid-fire  guns  are  mounted  in  such  manner  that  they 
can  be  swung  and  directed  to  any  point  of  the  compass. 
Rising  from  the  car  behind  the  locomotive,  is  a  conning  tower 
from  which  an  officer  takes  observations  and  directs  the  fire 
of  the  rapid-fire  guns.  Rails  running  on  top  of  the  cars  per- 
mit troops  to  fire  from  the  roof  of  the  cars.  For  opening 
railway  communications  this  ''battleship  on  wheels"  is  un- 
excelled. 

GAVE  HIM  A  PORK  TO   MATCH 

The  scene  is  a  village  on  the  outskirts  of  Muelhausen,  in 
Alsace.  A  lieutenant  of  German  scouts  dashes  up  to  the  door 
of  the  only  inn  in  the  village,  posts  men  at  the  dooru^ay  and 
entering,  seats  himself  at  a  table. 

He  draws  his  saber  and  places  it  on  the  table  at  his  side 
and  orders  food  in  menacing  tones. 

The  village  waiter  is  equal  to  the  occasion.  He  goes  to 
the  stables  and  fetches  a  pitchfork  and  places  it  at  the  other 
side  of  the  visitor. 

"Stop!  What  does  this  mean?"  roared  the  lieutenant, 
furiously. 

"Why,"  said  the  waiter,  innocently,  pointing  to  the  saber, 
"I  thought  that  was  your  knife,  so  I  brought  you  a  fork  to 
match." 

DECORATED  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

On  a  train  loaded  with  wounded  which  passed  through 
Limoges,  September  11,  was  a  young  French  officer,  Albert 
Palaphy,  whose  unusual  bravery  on  the  field  of  battle  won 
for  him  the  Legion  of  Honor. 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    233 

As  a  corporal  of  the  Tenth.  Dragoons  at  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  Palaphy  took  part  in  the  violent  combat  with  the 
Germans  west  of  Paris.  In  the  thick  of  the  battle  the  cav- 
alryman, finding  his  colonel  wounded  and  helpless,  rushed  to 
his  aid. 

Palaphy  hoisted  the  injured  man  upon  his  shoulders,  and 
under  a  rain  of  machine  gun  bullets  carried  him  safely  to  the 
French  lines.  That  same  day  Palaphy  was  promoted  to  be 
a  sergeant. 

Shortly  afterward,  although  wounded,  he  distinguished 
himself  in  another  affair,  leading  a  charge  of  his  squad 
against  the  Baden  guard,  whose  standard  he  himself  cap- 
tured. 

Wounded  by  a  ball  which  had  plowed  through  the  lower 
part  of  his  stomach  and  covered  with  lance  thrusts,  he  was 
removed  from  the  battlefield  during  the  night,  and  learned 
he  had  been  promoted  to  be  a  subheutenant  and  nominated 
chevalier  in  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

This  incident  of  decorating  a  soldier  on  the  battlefield 
recalls  Napoleonic  times. 

''after  you/'  said  the  FRENCHMAN" 

Lieutenant  de  Lupel  of  the  French  army  is  said  to  have 
endeared  himself  to  his  command  by  a  most  unusual  exhibi- 
tion of  what  they  are  pleased  to  term  ''old-fashioned  French 
gallantry." 

Accompanied  by  a  few  men,  Lieutenant  de  Lupel  succeeded 
in  surrounding  a  German  detachment  occupying  the  station 
at  Mezieres.  The  lieutenant,  on  searching  the  premises,  came 
upon  the  German  officer  hiding  behind  a  stack  of  coal.  Both 
men  leveled  their  guns,  and  for  a  moment  faced  each  other. 

"After  you,"  finally  said  the  Frenchman  courteously. 

The  German  fired  and  missed  and  Lieutenant  de  Lupel 
killed  his  man. 

The  French  soldiers  cheered  their  leader,  and  he  has  been 
praised  everywhere  for  his  action. 

A  "walking  wood"  at  crecy 

A  correspondent  describes  a  "walking  wood"  at  Crecy. 
The  French  and  British  cut  down  trees  and  armed  themselves 
with  the  branches.     Line  after  line  of  infantry,  each  man 


234    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

bearing  a  branch,  then  moved  forward  unobserved  toward 
the  enemy. 

Behind  them,  amid  the  lopped  tree  trunks,  the  artillery- 
men fixed  themselves  and  placed  thirteen-pounders  to  cover 
the  moving  wood. 

The  attack,  which  followed,  won  success.  It  almost  went 
wrong,  however,  for  the  French  cavalry,  which  was  following, 
made  a  detour  to  pass  the  wood  and  dashed  into  view  near 
the  ammunition  reserves  of  the  Allies. 

German  shells  began  falling  thereabouts,  but  British  sol- 
diers went  up  the  hills  and  pulled  the  boxes  of  ammunition 
out  of  the  way  of  the  German  shells.  Ammunition  and  men 
came  through  unscathed.  By  evening  the  Germans  had  been 
cleared  from  the  Marne  district. 

CHAPLAIN  CAPTUKES  AUSTRIAN  TEOOPERS 

The  Bourse  Gazette  relates  the  storv  of  a  Russian  regi- 
mental  chaplain  who,  single-handed,  captured  twenty-six  Aus- 
trian troopers.  He  was  strolling  on  the  steppes  outside  of 
Lemberg,  when  suddenly  he  was  confronted  by  a  patrol  of 
twenty-six  men,  who  tried  to  force  him  to  tell  the  details 
of  the  position  of  the  Russian  troop?. 

While  talking  to  the  men,  the  priest  found  that  they  were 
all  Slavs,  whereupon  he  delivered  an  impassioned  address, 
dwelling  on  the  sin  of  shedding  the  blood  of  their  Slav 
brethren. 

At  the  end  of  the  address,  the  story  concludes,  the  troopers 
■with  bent  heads  followed  the  priest  into  the  Russian  camp. 

A   BRITISH    CAVALRY    CHARGE 

Here  is  a  picturesque  story  of  a  British  cavalry  charge 
at  Thuin,  a  town  in  Belgium  near  Charieroi,  and  the  subse- 
quent retreat  to  Compiegne : 

**0n  Monday  morning,  August  24,  after  chafing  at  the 
long  delay,  the  2nd  British  Cavalry  Brigade  let  loose  at  the 
enemy 's  guns.  The  9th  Lancers  went  into  action  singing  and 
shouting  like  schoolboys. 

*'For  a  time  all  seemed  well;  few  saddles  were  emptied, 
and  the  leaders  had  charged  almost  within  reach  of  the 
<snemy's  guns  when  suddenly  the  Germans  opened  a  mur- 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    235 

derous  fire  from  at  least  twenty  concealed  machine  guns  at 
a  range  of  150  yards. 

**Tlie  result  was  shattering,  and  the  Lancers  caught  the 
full  force  of  the  storm.  Vicomte  Vauvineux,  a  French  cav- 
alry officer  who  rode  with  the  brigade  as  interpreter,  was 
killed  instantly.  Captain  Letourey,  who  was  the  French  mas- 
ter of  a  school  in  Devon,  was  riding  by  the  side  of  Vauvineux, 
and  had  a  narrow  escape,  as  his  horse  was  shot  from  under 
him.    Other  officers  also  fell. 

**  While  the  bulk  of  the  brigade  swerved  to  the  right  the 
others  held  on  and  rode  full  tilt  into  wire  entanglements 
buried  in  the  grass  thirty  yards  in  front  of  the  machine 
guns,  and  were  made  prisoners.  Three  regiments  of  the  best 
cavalry  in  the  British  went  into  the  charge,  and  suffered 
severely.  The  18th  Hussars  and  the  4th  Dragoons  also  suf- 
fered, but  not  to  the  same  extent  as  the  others. 

**A  happy  feature  of  the  charge  was  the  gallant  conduct 
of  Captain  Grenfell,  who,  though  twice  wounded,  called  for 
volunteers  and  saved  the  guns.  It  is  said  that  he  has  been 
recommended  for  the  Victoria  Cross. 

**  After  this  terrible  ordeal  the  British  brigade  was 
harassed  for  fourteen  days  of  retreat,  the  enemy  giving  them 
rest  neither  day  nor  night.  At  2  o'clock  each  morning  they 
w;ere  roused  by  artillery  fire,  and  every  day  they  fought  a 
retiring  action,  pursued  relentlessly  by  the  guns. 

*'It  was  a  wonderful  retreat.  Daily  the  cavalry  begged 
to  be  allowed  to  go  for  the  enemy  in  force  to  recover  lost 
ground,  but  only  once  were  they  permitted  to  taste  that  joy, 
at  the  village  of  Lassigny,  which  they  passed  and  repassed 
three  times. 

''The  Germans  made  repeated  efforts,  which  were  always 
foiled,  to  capture  the  retreating  transport.  It  had,  how- 
ever, many  narrow  escapes.  At  one  point  it  escaped  by  a 
furious  gallop  which  enabled  the  wagons  to  cross  a  bridge 
less  than  an  hour  ahead  of  the  eiiemy.  The  engineers  had 
mined  the  bridge  and  were  waiting  to  blow  it  up.  They  sent 
a  hurry-up  call  to  the  transport,  and  the  latter  responded 
with  alacrity.  The  bridge  was  blown  up  just  in  time  to  sep- 
arate the  two  forces. 


•236    S TOBIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

'*At  Compiegne  the  brigade  for  tlie  first  time  saw  and 
welcomed  their  French  brotliers-in-arms." 

BOY  SCOUT  HERO  OF  THE  WAR 

One  of  the  popular  heroes  of  Belgium  is  Boy  Scout  Ley- 
sen,  who  has  been  decorated  by  King  Albert  for  his  valor 
and  devotion  to  his  country. 

This  young  man,  who  was  born  at  Liege,  is  described  as  of 
almost  uncanny  sharpness,  with  senses  and  perceptions  as 
keen  as  an  Indian.  He  was  able  to  find  his  way  through  the 
woods  and  pass  the  German  sentinels  with  unerring  accuracy. 

Leysen  made  his  way  through  the  German  lines  from 
Antwerp  for  the  tenth  time  on  Sunday,  September  6,  carry- 
ing dispatches  to  secret  representatives  of  the  Belgian  gov- 
ernment in  Brussels.  He  discovered  and  denounced  eleven 
German  spies  in  Belgium,  and  performed  a  variety  of  other 
services,  and  all  without  impairing  his  boyish  simphcity. 

KAISER  ASKS  FOR  PRAYERS 

After  the  first  three  weeks  of  war,  Emperor  William 
requested  the  supreme  council  of  the  EvangeUcal  Church 
throughout  the  German  empire  to  include  the  following 
prayer  in  the  liturgj^  at  all  public  services  during  the  war : 

''Almighty  and  most  merciful  God,  God  of  the  armies,  we 
beseech  Thee  in  humility  for  Thy  almighty  aid  for  German 
Fatherland.  Bless  our  forces  of  war ;  lead  us  to  victory  and 
give  us  grace  that  we  may  show  ourselves  to  be  Christians 
toward  our  enemies  as  well.  Let  us  soon  arrive  at  a  peace 
which  will  everlastingly  safeguard  our  free  and  independent 
Germany. ' ' 

SPIRIT   OF  FRENCH  WOMEN 

When  sympathy  was  expressed  in  Paris  for  a  poor 
woman,  mother  of  nine  sons,  eight  of  whom  were  at  the  front, 
she  replied:  ''I  need  no  consolation.  I  have  never  forgotten 
that  I  was  flogged  by  Prussians  in  1870.  I  have  urged  my  sons 
to  avenge  me  and  they  will.'* 

As  one  train  of  soldiers  for  the  front  moved  out  of  a 
Paris  railway  station  two  girls  who  had  bravely  kissed  fare- 
well to  a  departing  man  turned  away,  and  one  began  to  cry, 
but  the  other  said:  ''Keep  up  a  little  longer,  he  can  still 
see  us." 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    237 

Another  carried  a  baby,  and  as  lier  husband  leaned  out 
of  the  window  and  the  train  started  she  threw  it  into  his 
arms,  crying:  ''Leave  it  with  the  station  master  at  the  next 
station,  and  I  will  fetch  it ;  you  must  have  it  for  another  few 
minutes." 

A  Paris  painter,  called  for  military  duty,  was  obliged  to 
leave  his  wife  and  four  children  almost  destitute.  When  he 
communicated  with  his  mfe  on  the  subject  she  replied:  ''Do 
your  duty  without  worrying  about  us.  The  city,  state  and 
our  associations  will  look  after  us  women  and  children."  In 
her  letter,  the  wife  enclosed  a  money  order  for  $1  out  of 
$1.20,  the  total  amount  of  money  which  she  possessed. 

KILLS  MANY  WITH  AKMOKED  CAR 

Lieutenant  Henkart,  attached  to  the  general  staff  of  the 
Belgian  Army,  perfected  a  monitor  armored  motor  car  which 
was  successfully  used  by  the  Belgians. 

During  the  war  the  officer  engaged  in  reconnoitering  in 
one  of  his  armored  cars.  He  had  several  encounters  with 
Uhlans,  of  whom  he  killed  a  considerable  number,  virtually 
single-handed.  His  only  assistants  in  his  scouting  trips  were 
a  chauffeur,  an  engineer  and  a  sharpshooter. 

On  one  occasion  the  party  killed  five  Uhlans.  Two  days 
later  it  killed  seven  and  on  another  occasion  near  Waterloo, 
the  auto  ran  into  a  force  of  500  Germans  and  escaped  after 
killing  twenty-five  with  a  rapid-fire  gun,  which  was  mounted 
on  the  motor  car. 

A  GERMAN  RUSE  THAT  FAILED 

A  Belgian  diplomat  in  Paris  related  an  incident  he  ob- 
served at  Charleroi.    He  said : 

"Twenty  Death's  Head  Hussars  entered  the  town  at  7 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  rode  quickly  down  the  street, 
saluting  and  calling  out  'Good-day'  to  those  they  met,  saying, 
'We  are  friends  of  the  people.' 

"Mistaking  them  for  English  cavalrymen,  the  people 
cried  'Long  live  England!'  The  Belgian  soldiers  themselves 
were  deceived  until  an  officer  at  a  window,  realizing  their 
mistake,  ran  to  the  street  and  gave  the  alarm.  The  Belgian 
soldiers  rushed  quickly  to  arms  and  opened  fire  on  the  fleeing 
Germans,  of  whom  several  were  killed. ' ' 


238    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

DEED  WRITING  TO  HIS  WIFE 

Here  is  a  story  of  a  heroic  death  on  the  battlefield,  told 
simply  in  a  letter  found  in  the  cold  hands  of  a  French  soldier 
who  had  just  finished  writing  it  when  the  end  came.  "I  am 
awaiting  help  which  does  not  come,''  the  letter  ran.  **I  pray 
God  to  take  me,  for  I  suffer  atrociously.  Adieu,  my  wife  and 
dear  children.  Adieu,  all  my  family,  whom  I  so  loved.  I  re- 
quest that  whoever  finds  me  will  send  this  letter  to  Paris  to 
my  wife,  with  the  pocketbook  which  is  in  my  coat  pocket. 
Gathering  my  last  strength  I  write  this,  lying  prostrate  under 
the  shell  fire.  Both  my  legs  are  broken.  My  last  thoughts 
are  for  my  children  and  for  thee,  my  cherished  wife  and  com- 
panion of  my  life,  my  beloved  wife.    Vive  la  France ! ' ' 

IN  THE  PARIS  MILITARY  HOSPITAL 

A  visitor  to  the  military  hospital  within  the  intrenched 
camp  of  Paris,  just  outside  the  city  walls,  said  on  Septem- 
ber 18: 

' '  Men  of  all  ranks  are  there,  from  the  simple  private  to  a 
general  of  division.  There  is  no  sign  of  discouragement  or 
sadness  on  the  pale  faces,  which  light  up  with  the  thought  of 
returning  to  battle. 

**I  saw  hundreds  of  men  lying  on  the  beds  in  the  wards 
with  varieties  of  wounds,  no  two  being  identical.  This  Turco 
— or  African  soldier — suffered  from  a  torn  tongue,  cut  by  a 
bullet,  which  traversed  his  cheek.  Another  had  lost  three 
fingers  of  his  left  hand.  A  bullet  entered  the  temple  of  this 
infantryman  and  fell  into  his  mouth,  where  by  some  curious 
reaction  he  swallowed  it. 

''Many  of  the  patients  are  suffering  from  mere  flesh 
wounds.  One  poor  fellow  whose  eye  was  put  out  by  a  bullet 
said:  ''That's  nothing.  It  is  only  my  left  eye  and  I  aim 
mth  my  right.  I  need  the  lives  of  just  three  Germans  to  pay 
for  it.'' 

SMOKE  AS  WOUNDS  ARE  TREATED 

*'The  Turcos,  though  terrible  hand-to-hand  fighters,  are 
hard  to  care  for.  They  have  great  fear  of  pain  and  it  is 
difficult  to  bandage  their  wounds.     The  doctors  give  them 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    239 

cigarettes,  which  they  smoke  with  dignity  as  if  performing 
a  ritual. 

*'A11  the  African  soldiers  were  wrathful  at  a  German 
officer  lying  in  a  neighboring  room.  They  muttered  in  a 
sinister  fashion,  *  To-morrow!'  and  put  two  hands  to  the 
neck.  I  understood  this  to  mean  that  they  would  strangle 
him  to-morrow.  Much  vigilance  is  required  to  keep  the  officer 
out  of  their  reach. 

*'One  Turco  killed  two  Prussians  with  his  bayonet  and 
two  with  the  stock  of  the  gun  in  a  single  fight.  His  body  is 
covered  with  the  scars  of  years  of  fighting  in  the  ser\dce  of 
France.  When  asked  if  he  liked  France  he  replied :  '  France 
good  country,  good  leaders,  good  doctors.*  He  seemed  to 
mind  his  wound  less  than  the  lack  of  cigarettes." 

SPIEIT   OF  BELGIAN   SOLOIEES 

"Writing  from  Antwerp  on  September  I,  William  G. 
Shepherd,  United  Press  staff  correspondent,  illustrated  the 
spirit  of  the  soldiery  of  Belgium  by  the  following  story: 

**The  little  Belgian  soldier  who  climbed  into  the  compart- 
ment with  me  was  dead  tired ;  he  trailed  his  rifle  behind  him, 
threw  himself  into  the  seat  and  fell  sound  asleep.  He  was 
ready  to  talk  when  he  awoke  an  hour  later. 

**  *  Yes,  I  was  up  all  night  with  German  prisoners,'  he  said. 
'It  was  a  bad  job,  there  were  only  sixteen  of  us  to  handle 
200  Germans.  We  had  four  box  cars  and  we  put  twenty- 
five  prisoners  in  one  end  of  the  car  and  twenty-five  in  the 
other,  and  the  four  of  us  with  rifles  sat  guard  by  the  car  door„ 

it  <We  rode  five  hours  that  way  and  I  expected  every  min- 
ute that  the  whole  fifty  Germans  in  the  car  would  jump  on 
us  four  and  kill  us.  Four  to  fifty;  that's  heavy  odds.  But 
we  had  to  do  it.  You  see  there  aren't  enough  soldiers  in  Bel- 
gium to  do  all  the  work,  so  we  have  to  make  out  the  best 


we  can.' 


** That's  the  plucky  little  Belgian  soldier,  all  over. 

**In  the  first  place,  he's  different  from  most  soldiers,  be- 
cause he  is  willing  to  fight  when  he  knows  he 's  going  to  lose. 

**  'We  have  to  make  out  the  best  we  can,'  is  his  motto. 

*'In  the  second  place,  he's  a  common-sense  little  fellow. 
Even  while  he's  fighting,  he's  doing  it  coolly,  and  there  is 


240    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

no  blind  hatred  in  liis  heart  that  causes  him  to  waste  any 
e^ort.    He  gets  down  to  the  why  and  wherefore  of  things. 

'*  *I  really  felt  sorry  for  those  German  prisoners,'  said 
a  comrade  of  the  first  soldier.  '  They  were  all  decent  fellows. 
They  told  me  their  officers  had  fooled  them.  They  said 
the  officers  gave  them  French  money  on  the  German  frontier 
and  then  yelled  to  them,  "On  into  France!"  They  went  on 
three  days  and  got  to  Liege  before  they  knew  they  were  in 
Belgium  instead  of  France. 

"  'We  didn't  want  to  hurt  Belgium,'  they  told  us,  *  be- 
cause we're  from  Alsace-Lorraine  ourselves.' 

"  'You  see,'  continued  the  logical  little  Belgian,  'it  wasn't 
their  fault,  so  we  couldn't  be  mad  at  them.' 

' '  That  is  the  Belgian  idea — cool  logic 

<<  'Why  did  you  fight  the  Germans!'  I  asked  a  high  gov- 
ernment official. 

"  'Because  civilization  can't  exist  without  treaties,  and 
it  is  the  duty  that  a  nation  owes  to  civilization  to  fight  to 
the  death  when  written  treaties  are  broken, '  was  the  reply. 

"  'It  must  be  a  rule  among  nations  that  to  break  a  treaty 
means  to  fight.  The  Germans  broke  the  neutrality  treaty 
with  Belgium  and  we  had  to  fight.* 

"  'But  did  you  expect  to  whip  the  Germans?' 

"  'How  could  we?  We  knew  that  hordes  of  Germans 
would  follow  the  first  comers,  but  we  had  no  right  to  worry 
about  who  would  be  whipped ;  all  we  had  to  do  was  to  fight, 
and  we've  done  it  the  best  we  could.' 

"It  has  been  a  cool-headed  logical  matter  with  the  Bel- 
gians from  the  start.  Treaties  are  made  with  ink;  they're 
broken  with  blood,  and  jusi  as  natirrally  and  coolly  as  the 
Belgian  diplomats  used  ink  in  signing  the  treaties  with  Ger- 
many so  the  Belgian  soldiers  have  used  their  blood  in  trying 
to  maintain  the  agreements." 

ELFLES  USED  BY  NATIONS  OF  WAR 

In  the  present  war  Germany  uses  a  Mauser  rifle,  with  a 
bullet  of  8  millimeters  caliber,  steel  and  copper  coated. 
Great  Britain's  missile  is  the  Lee-Enfield,  caliber  7.7  mm., 
the  coating  being  cupro-nickel. 

The  French  weapon  is  the  Lebel  rifle,  of  8  mm.  caliber, 
with  bullets  coated  with  nickel.    Russia  uses  Mossin-Nagant 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    241 

rifles,  7.62  mm.,  with  bullets  cupro-nickel  coated.  Austria's 
chief  small  arm  is  the  Mannlicher,  caliber  8  mm.,  with  a  steel 
sheet  over  the  tip. 

Hitting  a  man  beyond  350  yards,  the  wounds  inflicted  by 
all  these  bullets  are  clean  cut.  They  frequently  pass  through 
bone  tissue  without  splintering. 

When  meeting  an  artery  the  bullet  seems  to  push  it  to 
one  side  and  goes  around  without  cutting  the  blood  channel. 

Amputations  are  very  rare  compared  with  wars  of  more 
than  fifty  years  ago.  A  bullet  wound  through  a  joint,  such 
as  the  knee  or  the  elbow,  then  necessitated  the  amputation 
of  the  limb.    Now  such  a  wound  is  easily  opened  and  dressed. 

Even  Russia,  which  made  a  sad  sanitary  shomng  in  the 
war  with  Japan,  now  has  learned  her  lesson  and  has  efficient 
surgical  arrangements. 

All  the  nations  use  vaccine  to  combat  typhoid,  the  scourge 
which  once  decimated  camps,  and  killed  1,600  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war. 

GERMAN-   UHLANS  AS   SCOUTS 

Concerning  the  German  Uhlans,  of  whom  so  much  has 
been  heard  in  the  European  war,  Luigi  Barzini,  a  widely 
known  Italian  war  correspondent,  said: 

"The  swarms  of  cavalry  which  the  Germans  send  out 
ahead  of  their  advance  are  to  be  found  everywhere — on  any 
highway,  on  any  path.  It  is  their  business  to  see  as  much 
as  possible.  They  show  themselves  everywhere  and  they 
ride  until  they  are  fired  upon,  keeping  this  up  until  they  have 
located  the  enemy. 

"Theirs  is  the  task  of  riding  into  death.  The  entire 
front  of  the  enemy  is  estabhshed  by  them,  and  many  of  them 
are  killed — that  is  a  certainty  they  face.  Now  and  then,  how- 
ever, one  of  them  manages  to  escape  to  bring  the  information 
himself,  which  otherwise  is  obtained  by  officers  in  their  rear 
making  observation. 

"At  every  bush,  every  heap  of  earth,  the  Uhlan  must  say 
to  himself:  'Here  I  will  meet  an  enemy  in  hiding.'  He 
knows  that  he  cannot  defend  himself  against  a  fire  that  may 
open  on  him  from  all  sides.  Everywhere  there  is  danger  for 
the  Uhlan — ^hidden  danger. 


242  STOllIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

**Nevertiieless  he  keeps  on  riding,  calmly  and  undis*- 
turbed,  in  keeping  with  German  discipline.'* 

FOUGHT   WITHOUT  SHOES 

The  Paris  Matin  relates  that  on  the  arrival  of  a  train 
bringing  wounded  Senegalese  riflemen  nearly  all  were  found 
smoking  furiously  from  long  porcelain  pipes  taken 
from  the  enemy  and  seemingly  indifferent  to  their  wounds. 
One  gayly  told  of  the  daring  capture  of  a  machine  gun  by 
eighteen  of  his  comrades.  The  gun,  he  said,  was  brought 
up  by  a  detachment  of  German  dragoons  and  the  Senegalese 
bravely  charged  and  captured  everything. 

Though  their  arms  and  bodies  were  hacked  by  sabers, 
the  Senegalese  complained  of  nothing  but  the  obligation  to 
fight  with  shoes  on.  Before  going  into  battle  at  Charleroi 
they  slyly  rid  themselves  of  these  impediments  and  came 
back  shod  in  German  footwear  to  avoid  punishment  for  losing 
equipment. 

KILLED  A  GENERAL 

The  shot  which  resulted  in  the  death  of  Prince  von  Bue- 
low,  one  of  the  German  generals,  was  fired  by  a  Belgian  pri- 
vate named  Rosseau,  who  was  decorated  by  King  Albert  for 
his  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Haelen. 

Rosseau  was  lying  badly  wounded  among  his  dead  com- 
rades when  he  saw  a  German  officer  standing  beside  his 
horse  and  studying  a  map.  Picking  up  a  rifle  beside  a  dead 
German,  Rosseau  fired  at  this  oflicer  and  wounded  him.  The 
officer  proved  to  be  Prince  von  Buelow.  Exchanging  his  hat 
for  the  German  general's  helmet  and  taking  the  general's 
horse,  Rosseau  made  his  way  to  the  Belgian  lines  and  was 
placed  in  a  hospital  at  Ghent. 

HOW  A  GERMAN   PRINCE  DIED 

The  Hanover  Courier  gave  the  following  account  by  an 
eyewitness  of  the  death  of  Prince  Frederick  William  of  Lippe 
at  Liege: 

* '  On  all  sides  our  detachment  was  surrounded  by  Belgian 
troops,  who  were  gradually  closing  in  for  purposes  of  exter- 
minating us.    At  the  prince's  command  we  formed  a  circle 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD   243 

eight  deep,  maintaining  a  stubborn  defense.  At  length  a 
strong  division  arrived  to  support  us.  The  prince  raised 
himself  from  a  kneeling  position  and  turned  to  the  standard 
bearer,  who  lay  prone  beside  him,  covering  the  standard  with 
his  body. 

"  *Eaise  the  standard,'  commanded  the  prince,  'so  that 
we  may  be  recognized  by  our  friends. ' 

**The  standard  bearer  raised  the  flag,  waving  it  to  and 
fro.  This  action  immediately  brought  upon  the  standard 
bearer  and  the  prince  a  violent  fusillade.  The  standard  was 
shot  away  and  at  the  same  moment  the  prince  was  struck 
in  the  chest  and  expired  instantly. ' ' 

KAHiWAY  STATION  A  SHAMBLES 

Mrs.  Herman  H.  Harjes,  wife  of  the  Paris  banker,  who, 
with  other  American  women,  was  deeply  interested  in  relief 
work,  visited  the  North  railroad  station  at  Paris  on  Sep- 
tember 1  and  was  shocked  by  the  sights  she  saw  among  the 
Belgian  refugees. 

**The  station,"  said  Mrs.  Harjes,  ** presented  the  aspect 
of  a  shambles.  It  was  the  saddest  sight  I  ever  saw.  It  is 
impossible  to  believe  the  tortures  and  cruelties  the  poor  un- 
fortunates had  undergone. 

"I  saw  many  boys  with  both  their  hands  cut  off  so  that 
it  was  impossible  for  them  to  carry  guns.  Everywhere  was 
filth  and  utter  desolation.  The  helpless  little  babies,  lying 
on  the  cold,  wet  cement  floor  and  crying  for  proper  nourish- 
ment, were  enough  to  bring  hot  tears  to  any  mother's  eyes. 

**  Mothers  were  vainly  besieging  the  authorities,  begging 
for  milk  or  soup.    A  mother  with  twelve  children  said : 

**  '"What  is  to  become  of  us?  It  seems  impossible  to  suffer 
more.  I  saw  my  husband  bound  to  a  lamppost.  He  was 
gagged  and  being  tortured  by  bayonets.  When  I  tried  to 
intercede  in  his  behalf,  I  was  knocked  senseless  with  a  rifle. 
I  never  saw  him  again.'  " 

BUKIED   ON  THE  FIELD 

The  bodies  of  the  dead  in  this  war  were  not,  with  occasional 
exceptions,  returned  to  their  relatives,  but  were  buried  on 
the  field  and  where  numbers  required  it,  in  common  graves. 


244    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

Valuables,  papers  and  mementoes  were  taken  from  the  bodies 
and  made  up  in  little  packets  to  be  sent  to  the  relatives,  and 
the  dead  soldiers,  each  wrapped  in  his  canvas  shelter  tent, 
as  shroud,  were  laid,  friend  and  foe,  side  by  side  in  long 
trenches  in  the  ground  for  which  they  had  contested. 

GEBMAN   LISTS   OF   THE   DEAD 

In  the  German  official  Gazette  daily  lists  of  the  dead, 
wounded  and  missing  were  published.  The  names  marched 
by  in  long  columns  of  the  Gazette,  arrayed  with  military  pre- 
cision by  regiments  and  companies,  batteries  or  squadrons — 
first  the  infantry  and  then  cavalry,  artillery  and  train. 

The  company  lists  were  headed  usually  by  the  names  of 
the  officers,  killed  or  wounded ;  then  came  the  casualties  from 
the  enlisted  strength — first  the  dead,  then  the  wounded  and 
the  missing.  A  feature  of  the  early  lists  was  the  large  propor- 
tion of  this  last  class,  reports  from  some  units  running  mo- 
notonously, name  after  name,  '* missing"  or  ''wounded  and 
missing" — in  mute  testimony  of  scouting  patrols  which  did 
not  return,  or  of  regiments  compelled  to  retire  and  leave  be- 
hind them  dead,  wounded  and  prisoners,  or  sometimes  of  men 
wandering  so  far  from  their  comrades  in  the  confusion  of 
battle  that  they  could  not  find  and  rejoin  their  companies 
for  days. 

THE   LANCE   AS  A   WEAPON 

An  attempt  was  made  in  lists  of  the  German  wounded  to 
give  the  nature  and  location  of  the  wound.  These  were  prin- 
cipally from  rifle  or  shrapnel  fire.  A  scanty  few  in  the  cavalry 
were  labeled  ''lance  thrust,"  indicating  that  the  favorite 
weapon  of  the  European  cavalry  has  not  done  the  damage  ex- 
pected of  it,  although  the  lance  came  more  into  play  in  the 
iater  engagements  between  the  Russian  and  German  cavalry 
divisions. 

"fathekland  or  death!" 

"Writing  from  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Germany,  on  Augiist  29th, 
Karl  H.  von  Wiegand,  who  is  considered  by  the  Allies  a  Ger- 
man mouthpiece,  said : 

"America  has  not  the  faintest  realization  of  the  terrible 
carnage  going  on  in  Europe.     She  cannot  realize  the  deter- 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    245 

mination  of  Germany,  all  Germany — men,  women  and  cMldren 
— in  this  war.  The  German  Empire  is  like  one  man.  And 
that  man's  motto  is  'Vaterland  oder  Tod  I'  (Fatherland  or 
Death  I) 

"English  news  sources  are  reported  here  as  telling  of  the 
masterly  retreat  of  the  allies.  Here  in  the  German  field  head- 
quarters, where  every  move  on  the  great  chess-board  of  Bel- 
gium and  Prance  is  analyzed,  the  war  to  date  is  referred  to 
as  the  greatest  offensive  movement  in  the  history  of  modern 
warfare. ' ' 

GEBMAN"   PLANS   WELL   LAID 

The  German  offensive  plans  were  well  laid.  No  army  that 
ever  took  the  field  was  ever  so  mobile.  Thousands  of  aimy 
autos  have  been  in  use.  Each  regiment  had  its  supply.  The 
highways  were  mapped  in  advance.  There  was  not  a  cross- 
road that  was  not  known.  Even  the  trifling  brooks  had  been 
located.  Nothing  had  been  left  to  chance  and  the  advance 
guard  was  accompanied  by  enormous  automobiles  filled  with 
corps  of  sappers  who  carried  bridge  and  road  building 
materials. 

THE   TEERIBLE   KEUPP   GUNS 

How  well  the  German  plans  worked  was  shown  when  Na- 
mur,  which,  it  was  boasted,  would  resist  for  months,  fell  in 
two  days.  The  terrible  work  of  the  great  Krupp  weapons, 
whose  existence  had  been  kept  secret,  is  hard  to  realize.  One 
shot  from  one  of  these  guns  went  through  what  was  consid- 
ered an  impregnable  wall  of  concrete  and  armored  steel  at 
Namur,  exploded  and  killed  150  men. 

And  aside  from  the  effectiveness  of  these  terrible  weapons, 
Belgian  prisoners  who  were  in  the  Namur  forts  declare  their 
fire  absolutely  shattered  the  nerves  of  the  defenders,  whose 
guns  had  not  sufficient  range  to  reach  them. 

GERMANS   DEFY   DEATH 

**It  makes  you  sick  to  see  the  way  that  the  Germans  liter- 
ally walk  into  the  very  mouth  of  the  machine  guns  and  cannon 
spouting  short-fused  shrapnel  that  mow  down  their  lines  and 
tear  great  gaps  in  them,''  said  a  Belgian  major  who  was 


246    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

badly  wounded.  '  *  Nothing  seems  to  stop  them.  It  is  like  an 
inhuman  machine  and  it  takes  the  very  nerve  out  of  you  to 
watch  it." 

SPIEIT   OF  GERMAN  WOMEN 

**The  women  of  Germany  are  facing  the  situation  with 
heroic  calmness,"  said  Eleanor  Painter,  an  American  opera 
singer  on  landing  in  New  York  September  7th,  direct  from 
Berlin,  where  she  had  spent  the  last  four  years.  *'It  is  all 
for  the  Fatherland.  The  spirit  of  the  people  is  wonderful. 
If  the  men  are  swept  away  in  the  maelstrom  of  war,  the 
women  will  continue  to  fight.  They  are  prepared  now  to 
do  so. 

**  There  are  few  tears  in  Berlin.  Of  course  there  is  sor- 
row, deep  sorrow.  But  the  German  women  and  the  few  men 
still  left  in  the  capital  realize  that  the  national  life  itself^  is 
at  stake  and  accept  the  inevitable  losses  of  a  successful  mili- 
tary occupation.  There  is  a  grim  dignity  everj^where.  There 
are  no  false  ideas  as  to  the  enormity  of  the  struggle  for 
existence.  A  great  many  Germans,  in  fact,  realizing  that  it 
is  nearly  the  whole  world  against  Germany,  do  not  believe 
that  the  Fatherland  can  survive.  But  they  are  determined 
that  while  there  is  a  living  German  so  long  will  Germany 
fight. 

FATHEE   AND   TEN   SONS   ENLIST 

**A  German  father  with  his  ten  sons  enlisted.  General 
von  Haessler,  more  than  the  allotted  three-score  years  and 
ten,  veteran  of  two  wars,  offered  his  sword.  Boys  who  vol- 
unteered and  who  were  not  needed  at  the  time  wept  when 
the  recruiting  officers  sent  them  back  home,  telling  them  their 
time  would  come. 

''The  German  w^omen  fight  their  own  battles  in  keeping 
back  tears  and  praying  for  the  success  of  the  German  arms. 
Hundreds  of  titled  women  are  at  the  front  with  the  Red  Cross, 
sacrificing  everything  to  aid  their  country.  Baroness  von 
Ziegler  and  her  daughter  wrote  from  Wiesbaden  that  they 
were  en  route  to  the  front  and  were  ready  to  fight  if  need  be. 

''Even  the  stupendous  losses  which  the  army  is  incurring 
cannot  dim  the  love  of  the  Fatherland  nor  the  desire  of  the 
Germans,  as  a  whole  nation,  to  fight  on.     I  speak  of  vast 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

losses.  An  officer  with  whom  I  talked  while  en  route  from 
Berlin  to  Rotterdam,  told  me  of  his  own  experience.  He  was 
one  of  2,000  men  on  the  eastern  frontier.  They  saw  a  de- 
tachment of  Russians  ahead.  The  German  forces  went  into 
battle  singing  and  confident,  although  the  Russian  columns 
numbered  12,000.  Of  that  German  force  of  2,000  just  fifty 
survived.    None  surrendered.'* 

PEAEFUL  STATE  OF  BATTLEFIELDS 

Dead  men  and  horses,  heaped  up  by  thousands,  lay  putre- 
fying on  the  battlefields  of  the  Aisne,  Colonel  Webb  C.  Hayes, 
U.  S.  A.,  son  of  former  President  Hayes,  declared  in  Washing- 
ton on  Oct.  7,  on  his  return  from  observing  the  war  and  its 
battlefields.  He  was  the  bearer  of  a  personal  message  to  Presi- 
dent Wilson  from  the  acting  burgomaster  of  Louvain. 

*'When  I  left  Havre  on  Sept.  27,"  he  said,  ''the  Allies 
were  fearful  that  they  would  not  be  able  to  penetrate  to  the 
German  line  through  the  mass  of  putrefying  men  and  horses 
on  the  battlefields,  which  unfortunately  the  combatants  seem 
not  to  heed  about  burying.  I  don't  see  how  they  could  pass 
through  these  fields.  The  stench  was  horrible,  and  the  idea 
of  climbing  over  the  bodies  must  be  revolting  even  to  brave 
soldiers." 

Col.  Hayes  had  been  on  the  firing  line ;  he  had  visited  the 
sacked  city  of  Louvain  as  the  guest  of  Germans  in  an  armored 
car ;  he  had  been  in  Aix-la-Chapelle,  at  the  German  base,  and 
had  seen  some  of  the  fighting  in  the  historic  Aisne  struggle. 

"It  is  a  sausage  grinder,"  he  declared. 

* '  On  one  side  are  the  Allies,  apparently  willing  to  sacrifice 
their  last  man  in  defense  of  France ;  on  the  other  are  the  Ger- 
mans, seemingly  prodigal  of  their  millions  of  men  and  money 
and  throwing  man  after  man  into  the  war. ' ' 

"What  about  the  alleged  atrocities  in  Belgium?"  he  was 
asked. 

"Well,  war  is  hell;  that's  about  the  only  answer  I  can  give 
you.  The  real  tragic  feature  of  the  whole  war  is  Belgium.  Its 
people  are  wonderful  folk — clean,  decent,  respectable.  What 
this  nation  should  do  is  to  concentrate  its  efforts  to  aid  the 
women  and  children  of  Belgium.  Help  for  hospitals  is  not  so 
much  needed,  but  the  fate  of  these  people  is  really  pathetic." 


248    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

Asked  for  a  brief  description  of  what  he  saw  along  the 
battle  line,  Col.  Hayes  declared : 

' '  The  battle  front  these  days  is  far  different  from  what  it 
used  to  be.  There  are  few  men  to  be  seen,  and  practically  no 
guns.  All  are  concealed.  Shrapnel  flies  through  the  air  and 
bursts.  That  is  the  scene  most  of  the  time.  In  the  hand-to- 
hand  fighting  bayonets  are  used  much  by  the  French,  while  the 
Turcos  use  knives.'* 

**  Shall  you  go  back?*'  Col.  Hayes  was  asked. 

''Does  anyone  wish  to  visit  a  slaughterhouse  a  second 
timer'herepUed. 

PRINCES  WOUNDED  BY  THE  FOE 

Prince  August  William,  the  fourth  son  of  Emperor  "Wil- 
liam, was  shot  in  the  left  arm  during  the  battle  of  the  Marne 
and  Emperor  William  bestowed  the  Iron  Cross  of  the  first 
class  on  him. 

Prince  Eitel,  the  Kaiser's  second  son,  was  wounded  during 
the  battle  of  the  Aisne.  Up  to  October  V  four  of  Emperor  Wil- 
liam's sons  had  been  placed  temporaxiiy  hors  de  combat. 

Prince  George  of  Servia,  while  leading  his  battalion  against 
the  Austrians  September  18,  was  hit  by  a  ball  which  entered 
near  the  spinal  column  and  came  out  at  the  right  shoulder. 
The  wound  was  said  not  to  be  dangerous. 

HOW  THE  SCOTSMEN  FOUGHT 

At  St.  Quentin,  France,  the  Highland  infantrymen  burst 
into  the  thick  of  the  Germans,  holding  on  to  the  stirrups  of  the 
Scots  Greys  as  the  horsemen  galloped,  and  attacked  hand  to 
hand.  The  Germans  were  taken  aback  at  the  sudden  and 
totally  unexpected  double  irruption,  and  broke  up  before  the 
Scottish  onslaught,  suffering  severe  losses  ahke  from  the 
swords  of  the  cavalry  and  from  the  Highlanders'  bayonets. 
The  scene  of  this  charge  is  depicted  in  one  of  our  illustrations. 

TWO  TRAGIC  INCIDENTS 

During  the  Russian  retreat  through  the  Mazur  lake  dis- 
trict, in  East  Prussia,  a  Russian  battery  was  surrounded  on 
three  sides  by  the  enemy's  quick  firers.  The  infantry  was  on 
the  other  side  of  the  lake,  and  the  Russian  ammunition  was 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    249 

exhausted.  In  order  to  avoid  capture,  the  commander  ordered 
the  battery  to  gallop  over  the  declivity  into  the  lake.  His  order 
was  obeyed  and  he  himself  was  among  the  drowned. 

During  an  assault  on  the  fortress  of  Ossowetz,  a  German 
column  got  into  a  bog.  The  Russians  shelled  the  bog  and  the 
single  road  crossing  it.  The  Germans,  in  trying  to  extricate 
themselves,  sank  deeper  into  the  mire,  and  hundreds  were 
killed  or  wounded.    Of  the  whole  column,  about  forty  survived. 

IN  THE  BRUSSELS  HOSPITALS 

A  peculiar  incident  of  the  war  is  noted  by  a  doctor  writing 
in  the  New  York  American,  who  went  through  several  of  the 
great  Brussels  hospitals  and  noted  the  condition  of  the 
wounded  Belgian  soldiers.  These  soldiers  carried  on  the 
defense  of  their  country  with  a  valor  which  the  fighting  men 
of  any  nation  might  achnire  and  envy.    The  writer  remarks : 

''Two  facts  struck  me  very  forcibly.  The  first  was  the 
very  large  number  of  Belgian  soldiers  wounded  only  in  the 
legs,  and,  secondly,  many  of  the  soldiers  seem  to  have  collapsed 
through  sheer  exhaustion. 

''In  peace  times  one  sees  and  hears  little  or  nothing  of 
extreme  exhaustion,  because  in  times  of  peace  the  almost 
superphysical  is  not  demanded.    "War  brings  new  conditions. 

"These  Belgian  soldiers  were  at  work  and  on  the  march 
during  stupendous  days,  practically  without  a  moment's 
respite.  They  went,  literally,  until  they  dropped.  As  a  medi- 
cal man,  their  condition  interested  me  enormously. 

"What  force  of  will  to  fight  and  struggle  until  the  last 
gasp !  The  exhaustion  one  sees  often  in  heat  strokes  and  in 
hot  climates  is  commonplace,  but  this  type  of  exhaustion  is,  by 
itself,  the  final  triumph  of  brave  spirits. 

' '  The  victims  presented  a  very  alarming  appearance  when 
first  I  met  them.  They  seemed  almost  dead ;  limp,  pale,  and 
cold.  Recovery  usually  is  not  protracted;  in  every  case  the 
men  knocked  out  in  this  manner  expressed  a  fervent  desire  to 
return  at  once  to  the  ranks. 


250   STORIES  FE03I  THE  BATTLEFIELD 


GERMAN  WARNING  TO  FRENCH  TOWNS 

Following  is  the  text  of  a  proclamation  published  in  French 
and  posted  in  all  towns  occupied  by  the  Germans : 

**  All  the  authorities  and  the  municipality  are  informed  that 
every  peaceful  inhabitant  can  follow  his  regular  occupation 
in  full  security.  Private  property  will  be  absolutely  respected 
and  provisions  paid  for. 

'  *  If  the  population  dare  under  any  form  whatever  to  take 
part  in  hostilities  the  severest  punishment  will  be  inflicted  on 
the  refractory. 

' '  The  people  must  give  up  their  arms.  Every  armed  indi- 
vidual will  be  put  to  death.  Whoever  cuts  telegraph  wires, 
destroys  railway  bridges  or  roads  or  commits  any  act  in  detri- 
ment to  the  Germans  will  be  shot. 

**  Towns  and  villages  whose  inhabitants  take  part  in  the 
combat  or  who  fire  upon  us  from  ambush  will  be  burned  down 
and  the  guilty  shot  at  once.  The  civil  authorities  mil  be  held 
responsible.  (Signed)     Von  Moltke/' 


MOTORS  IN  THE  RUSSIAN  ARMY 

The  Russian  army  has  always  placed  much  dependence  on 
its  horses,  having  a  vast  number,  but  it  has  realized  the  import- 
ance of  the  motor  vehicle  in  warfare  and  already  it  is  much 
better  equipped  than  other  nations  suppose.  An  illustration 
of  the  fact  is  the  following,  related  by  a  Red  Cross  man  who 
accompanied  the  Russian  forces  into  eastern  Germany: 

''I  was  walking  beside  one  of  our  carts.  We  could  hear 
heavy  artillery  fire  as  we  went,  when  shouts  from  our  people 
behind  warned  us  to  get  off  the  road.  We  pulled  onto  the 
grass  as  there  came  thundering  past,  bumping  from  one  rough 
place  to  another  on  the  poor  road  and  going  at  a  sickening  pace, 
a  string  of  huge  motor  cars  crowded  with  inf antrymeiv    They 


-  STQMIES  FMQM  TME  BATTLEFIELD    251 

looked  like  veMcles  of  tHe  army  establisliinent,  all  apparently 
alike  in  size  and  pattern  and  each  carrying  about  thirty  men. 

' '  They  were  traveling  like  no  motor  wagon  that  I  ever  saw 
— certainly  at  not  less  than  forty  miles  an  hour.  The  pro- 
cession seemed  endless.  I  didn't  count  them,  but  there  were 
not  less  than  a  hundred,  and  perhaps  a  good  many  more.  That 
was  General  Rennenkampf  reinforcing  his  threatened  flank." 

JENNIE  DTJFAU'S  NAEROW  ESCAPB3 

Jennie  Dufau,  the  American  opera  singer,  had  one  of  the 
most  thrilling  experiences  told  by  a  refugee  from  the  war  zone. 

Miss  Dufau  was  visiting  in  Saulxures,  Province  of  Alsace, 
when  the  war  started,  and  was  in  the  hitherto  peaceful  valley 
of  that  region  until  August  24.  She  was  with  her  sister,  Eliza- 
beth, and  her  two  brothers,  Paul  and  Daniel. 

On  August  6  the  German  artillery  occupied  the  heigbts  on 
one  side  of  the  valley,  overlooking  the  to^vn.  On  the  12th  the 
Germans  occupied  me  town  itself.  At  that  time  there  were 
but  two  French  regiments  near  Saulxures. 

The  French,  however,  opened  fire  on  the  Germans,  and  Miss 
Dufau  with  her  father  and  sister  at  once  retreated  to  the  cellar 
in  an  effort  to  escape  the  flying  shells. 

*'Then  began  a  tremendous  artillery  duel  that  lasted  for 
days,"  she  said.  **A11  this  time  we  were  hving  in  the  cellar, 
where  we  were  caring  for  ten  wounded  French  officers.  I  often 
went  out  over  the  battlefield  when  the  fire  slackened  and  did 
what  I  could  for  the  wounded  and  dying. 

''My  brothers  Paul  and  Daniel  were  drafted  into  the  Ger- 
man army.  They  had  sworn  an  oath  not  to  fire  a  shot  at  a. 
l:'renchman,  and  their  greatest  hope  was  that  they  would  be 
captured  and  permitted  to  put  on  the  French  uniform. 

*' Between  August  12  and  24  the  artillery  duel  raged,  and 
finally  the  opposing  armies  came  to  a  hand-to-hand  fight  with 
the  bayonet.  First  it  was  the  Germaiis  who  occupied  the  town, 
then  the  French.  The  Germans  finally  came  to  our  house  and 
accused  my  sister,  my  father,  and  myself  of  being  spies  because 
they  found  a  telephone  there.  The  soldiers  lined  us  up  against 
the  wall  to  shoot  us,  but  we  fell  on  our  knees  and  begged  them 
to  spare  the  life  of  our  father.  They  gave  no  heed  till  a  Ger- 
man colonel  came  along  and,  after  questioning  us,  ordered  that 
we  be  set  free.** 


252    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

VALLEY   OF  DEATH   ON  THE  AISNE 

A  non-combatant  who  succeeded  in  getting  close  to  the 
firing  lines  on  the  Aisne  when  the  great  battle  had  raged  con- 
tinuously for  five  weeks,  wrote  as  follows  on  October  21st  of 
the  horrors  he  had  witnessed: 

"Between  the  lines  of  battle  there  is  a  narrow  strip,  vary- 
ing from  seventy  yards  to  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  which  is  a 
neutral  valley  of  death.  Neither  side  is  able  to  cross  that 
strip  without  being  crumpled  by  fire  against  which  no  body 
of  men  can  stariid.  The  Germans  have  attempted  to  break 
through  the  British  and  French  forces  hundreds  of  times  but 
have  been  compelled  to  "withdraw,  and  always  with  severe 
losses. 

'*A  number  of  small  towns  are  distributed  in  this  narrow 
strip,  the  most  important  being  Craonne.  The  Germans  and 
French  have  reoccupied  it  six  times  and  each  in  turn  has 
been  driven  out.  The  streets  of  Craonne  are  littered  with  tl^e 
dead  of  both  armies.  The  houses,  nearly  all  of  which  have 
been  demolished  by  exploding  shells,  are  also  full  of  bodies  of 
men  who  crawled  into  them  to  get  out  of  the  withering  fire 
and  have  there  died.  Many  of  these  men  died  of  sheer  ex- 
haustion and  starvation  while  the  battle  raged  day  after  day. 

''Both  armies  have  apparently  abandoned  the  struggle  to 
hold  Craonne  permanently,  and  it  is  now  literally  a  city  of  the 
dead. 

* '  It  is  a  typical  French  village  of  ancient  stone  structures ; 
the  tiny  houses  all  have,  or  had,  gables  and  tiled  roofs.  These 
have  mostly  been  broken  by  shell  fire.  Under  the  shelter  of 
its  buildings  both  the  Germans  and  French  have  been  able  at 
times  to  rescue  their  wounded. 

''This  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  the  strip  of  death 
between  the  battle  lines.  There  the  wounded  lie  and  the  dead 
go  unburied,  while  the  opposing  forces  direct  their  merciless 
fire  a  few  feet  above  the  field  of  suffering  and  carnage.  I  did 
not  know  until  I  looked  upon  the  horrors  of  Craonne  that  such 
conditions  could  exist  in  modern  warfare. 

"I  thought  that  frequent  truces  would  be  negotiated  to 
give  the  opposing  armies  an  opportunity  to  collect  their 
wounded  and  bury  their  dead.    I  had  an  idea  that  the  Red 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD    253 

Cross  had  made  war  less  terrible.  The  world  thinks  so  yet, 
perhaps,  but  the  conditions  along  the  Aisne  do  not  justify  that 
belief.  If  a  man  is  wounded  in  that  strip  between  the  lines 
he  never  gets  back  alive  unless  he  is  within  a  short  distance 
of  his  own  lines  or  is  protected  from  the  enemy's  fire  by  the 
lay  of  the  land. 

* '  This  protracted  and  momentous  battle,  which  raged  day 
and  night  for  so  many  weeks,  became  a  continuous  nightmare 
to  the  men  engaged  in  it,  every  one  of  whom  knew  that  upon 
its  issue  rested  one  of  the  great  deciding  factors  of  the  war. ' ' 

BRITISH  AID  FOR  FRENCH  WOUNDED 

The  following  paragraphs  from  a  letter  received  October 
15th  by  the  author  from  an  English  lady  interested  in  the 
suffrage  movement,  give  some  idea  of  the  spirit  in  which  the 
people  of  England  met  the  emergency;  and  also  indicate  the 
frightful  conditions  attending  the  care  of  the  wounded  in 
France : 

**  London,  October  7,  1914. — The  world  is  a  quite  different 
place  from  what  it  was  in  July — dear,  peaceful  July !  It  seems 
years  ago  that  we  lived  in  a  time  of  peace.  It  all  still  seems 
a  nightmare  over  England  and  one  feels  that  the  morning 
must  come  when  one  will  wake  up  and  find  it  has  all  been  a 
hideous  dream,  and  that  peace  is  the  reality.  But  the  facts 
grow  sadder  every  day,  as  one  realizes  the  frightful  slaughter 
and  waste  of  young  lives.     *     *     * 

**But  now  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of  this  horrible  time, 
we  can  only  stop  all  criticism  of  our  Government,  set  our  teeth, 
and  try  to  help  in  every  possible  way.  All  suffrage  work  has 
stopped  and  all  the  hundred-and-one  interests  in  societies  of 
every  kind  are  in  abeyance  as  well.  The  offices  of  every  kind 
of  society  are  being  used  for  refugees.  Red  Cross  work,  unem- 
ployment work,  and  to  meet  other  needs  of  the  moment. 

'*  Every  day  of  our  time  is  taken  up  with  helping  to  equip 
'hospital  units,*  private  bodies  of  doctors  and  nurses  with 
equipment,  to  go  to  France  and  help  the  French  Red  Cross 
work  among  the  French  wounded.  The  situation  in  France 
at  present  is  more  horrible  than  one  can  imagine.  Our  Eng- 
lish soldiers  have  medical  and  surgical  help  enough  with  them 
for  first  aid.    Then  they  are  sent  back  to  England,  and  here 


254    STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD 

all  our  hospitals  are  ready  and  private  houses  everywhere 
have  been  given  to  the  War  Office  for  the  wounded.  But  the 
battlefield  is  in  France ;  many  of  the  French  doctors  have  been 
shot;  the  battle-line  is  200  miles  long,  and  the  carnage  is 
frightful. 

*'Last  week  we  sent  off  one  hospital  unit,  and  a  messenger 
came  back  from  it  yesterday  to  tell  us  awful  facts — 16,000 
■wounded  in  Limoges  for  one  place,  and  equal  numbers  in 
several  other  little  places  south  of  Paris — ^just  trains  full  of 
them — ^with  so  little  ready  for  them  in  the  way  of  doctors 
or  nurses.  One  hears  of  doctors  performing  operations  with- 
out chloroform,  and  the  suffermg  of  the  poor  fellows  is 
awful.'* 


COMPAEATIVE  WEALTH  OF  NATIONS  AT  WAR 

The  wealth  of  the  principal  belligerent  nations,  in  terms  of  prop- 
erty, goods  and  appraisable  resources  of  all  kinds,  is  estimated  as 
follows : 

National  National  Percent 

Wealth  Debt 

United  States $260,000,000,000  $18,000,000,000  6.9 

Great  Britain 90,000,000,000  36,675,000,000  40.7 

France  65,000,000,000  23,000,000,000  35.4 

Russia 40,000,000,000  25,400,000,000  63.5 

Italy  25,000,000,000  7,000,000,000  28.0 

Japan  28,000,000,000  1,300,000,000  4.6 

Germany 80,000,000,000  33,000,000,000  38.7 

Austria-Hungary 25,000,000,000  20,000,000,000  80.0 

It  is  worth  noting  in  this  connection  that  the  fourth  liberty  bond 
issue  of  six  billions  was  oversubscribed  to  extent  $866,416,300 — almost 
an  extra  billion.     There  were  over  21,000,000  individual  subscribers. 

The  war  bills  of  the  United  States  between  April  6,  1917,  and 
October  31st,  1918,  as  officially  reported  at  Washington  November  2, 
1918,  amounted  to  twenty  billions,  five  hundred  and  sixty-one  million 
dollars  ($20,561,000,000).  Of  this  sum,  seven  billions  and  seventeen 
millions  ($7,017,000,000)  have  been  loaned  to  the  allies  and  will  be 
repaid. 

Only  a  little  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  expense  had  up  to  the 
date  of  the  report  been  raised  by  taxation.  Most  of  the  remainder 
had  been  raised  by  bond  issues  practically  all  of  which  were  subscribed 
by  our  own  people,  so  that  the  debt  is  owing  not  to  foreign  creditors, 
but  to  ourselves. 


STORIES  FROM  THE  BATTLEFIELD  255 

The  same  report  shows  that  on  November  1st,  1918,  the  treasury's 
working  balance  stood  at  one  billion,  eight  hundred  and  forty-five 
millions,  seven  hundred  and  thirty-nine  thousand  dollars  ($1,845,739,- 
000)  the  largest  sum  ever  available  at  any  one  time  in  the  history  of 
the  nation — with  continuing  receipts  of  instalment  payments  on  the 
fourth  liberty  loan  coming  in  at  the  rate  of  two  billions  per  month, 
and  preparations  for  the  fifth  loan  well  under  way. 

FIGURES  THAT  ARE  DIFFICULT  TO  COMPREHEND. 

The  direct  cost  of  the  war  for  all  belligerent  nations  to  May  1, 
1918,  was  reported  at  about  $175,000,000,000  by  the  Federal  Reserve 
board  bulletin,  issued  November  18.  It  was  estimated  that  the  cost 
would  amount  to  nearly  $200,000,000,000  before  the  end  of  the  year. 

For  purely  military  and  naval  purposes,   it  appears  that  all 

belligerents  had  spent  about  $132,000,000,000  to  May  1.  The  re- 
mainder represented  interest  on  debt,  and  other  indirect  war  expenses. 

The  mobilization  and  the  first  five  months  of  the  war  in  1914 
cost  all  belligerents  about  $10,000,000,000.  In  1915  the  expenses 
jumped  to  $26,000,000,000,  in  1916  they  increased  to  $38,000,000,000  ; 
and  in  1917  they  were  estimated  at  $60,000,000,000.  In  1918  expenses 
ran  only  a  little  above  the  rate  of  1917. 

The  public  debt  of  the  principal  entente  allies  is  calculated  at 
approximately  $105,000,000,000,  not  counting  the  debt  incurred  since 
May  1918.  The  annual  burden  to  all  belligerents  to  pay  interest  and 
sinking  fund  allowances  will  be  not  less  than  $10,000,000,000,  and 
probably  much  more. 

Unofficial  reports  indicate  that  Germany's  national  debt,  repre- 
sented mainly  by  war  bonds  held  within  the  empire,  is  now  nearly 
$35,000,000,000  (almost  two-fifths  of  the  estimate  national  wealth  of 
$80,000,000,000).  Besides  this,  France  claims  a  return  of  the  1871 
indemnity,  $20,000,000,000 ;  $28,000,000,000  for  pensions ;  and  repara- 
tion of  damages,  $20,000,000,000 ;  being  $68,000,000,000  in  all. 

Whatever  may  l3e  the  weight  of  the  final  burden  of  reparation 
and  restitution  to  be  placed  on  Germany,  the  size  of  the  task  ahead 
of  her  may  be  illustrated  by  comparison  of  her  national  debt  with 
that  of  the  United  States,  Germany  has  66,000,000  population  and 
$80,000,000,000  of  estimated  wealth,  to  pay  $35,000,000,000  of  war 
debt  already  created. 

The  United  States  has  110,000,000  population  and  an  estimated 
national  wealth  of  $250,000,000,000,  to  pay  nearly  $18,000,000,000  war 
debt  already  created,  or  approximately  $23,000,000,000  up  to  the  end 
of  May,  1919.  This  means  that  the  per  capita  burden  will  be  at  least 
three  times  greater  in  Germany  than  in  the  United  States. 


OIIAFTER  XV 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS 

Movements  of  British  Battleships  Veiled  in  Secrecy/ — German 
Dreadnoughts  in  North  Sea  and  Baltic  Ports — Activity 
of  Smaller  Craft — English  Keep  Trade  Routes  Open — 
Several  Minor  Battles  at  Sea. 

SHORTLY  before  war  was  declared  a  great  review  of  the 
British  navy  was  held  at  Spithead,  on  the  English  Channel, 

when  several  hundred  vessels  were  gathered  in  mighty 
array  for  inspection  by  King  George  and  the  lords  of  the 
Admiralty.  The  salutes  they  fired  had  hardly  ceased  to  rever- 
berate along  the  shores  of  the  Channel  when  the  momentous 
struggle  was  on.  It  found  the  British  fleet  fully  mobilized 
and  ready  for  action.  The  ships  had  their  magazines  filled, 
their  bunkers  and  oil  tanks  charged,  their  victualing  com- 
pleted, and  last,  but  not  least,  their  full  crews  aboard. 

Then,  without  a  moment's  delay,  they  disappeared,  under 
orders  to  proceed  to  stations  in  the  North  Sea,  to  cruise  in 
the  Channel,  the  Atlantic  or  the  Mediterranean ;  to  keep  trade 
routes  open  for  British  and  neutral  ships  and  capture  or 
destroy  the  ships  of  the  enemy.  Silently  and  swiftly  they 
sailed,  and  for  weeks  the  world  knew  little  or  nothing  of  their 
movements  or  whereabouts. 

Mystery  equally  deep  shrouded  the  German  fleet.  In  all 
probabihty  it  lay  under  the  guns  of  the  coast  cities  and  forts 
of  Germany,  but  nothing  definite  was  permitted  to  leak  out. 
The  test  of  the  two  great  navies,  the  supreme  test  of  dread- 
noughts and  superdreadnoughts,  failed  to  materialize,  and  for 
weeks  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and  Germany  could  only 
wonder  what  had  become  of  their  naval  forces  and  why  they 
did  not  come  into  contact  with  each  other.  A  few  minor 
engagements  in  the  North  Sea,  in  which  light  cruisers  and 

256 


3IYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS  257 

torpedo-boat  destroyers  were  concerned,  served  only  to  deepen 
the  mystery. 

Only  naval  men  and  well-informed  civilians  realized  that 
Germany  was  biding  her  time,  waiting  to  choose  her  own  hour 
for  action,  realizing  the  strength  of  the  opposing  force  and 
determined  not  to  risk  her  own  ships  until  the  opportune 
moment  should  arrive  wliich  w^ould  offer  the  best  possible 
chances  for  success.  And  meanwhile  the  main  British  fleet  lay 
in  the  North  Sea,  waiting  for  the  enemy  to  appear. 

After  awhile  letters  began  to  come  from  the  North  Sea, 
telling  of  the  life  aboard  the  vessels  lying  in  wait,  scouting  or 
patrolling  the  coasts.  The  ships  were  all  stripped  for  action ; 
all  inflammable  ornaments  and  fittings  had  been  left  behind 
or  cast  overboard;  stripped  and  naked  the  fighting  machines 
went  to  their  task.  All  day  long  the  men  were  ready  at  their 
guns,  and  during  the  night  each  gun  crew  slept  around  the 
weapon  that  it  was  their  duty  to  serve,  ready  to  repel  any 
destroyers  or  submarines  coming  out  of  the  surrounding  dark- 
ness to  attack  them. 

Vice-Admiral  Sir  John  Jellicoe  had  assumed  supreme  com- 
mand of  the  British  home  fleet  on  August  4,.  with  the  rank 
of  admiral.  His  chief  of  staff'  was  Eear  Admiral  Charles  E. 
Madden.  Eear  Admiral  Sir  George  Callaghan  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  North  Sea  fleet. 

AN  ADMIRALTY  ANNOUNCEMENT 

On  Thursday,  September  10,  the  secretary  of  the  British 
Admiralty  made  the  following  announcement:  ''Yesterday 
and  today  strong  and  numerous  squadrons  and  flotillas  have 
made  a  complete  sweep  of  the  North  Sea  up  to  and  into  the 
Heligoland  Bight.  The  German  fleet  made  no  attempt  to  inter- 
fere with  our  movements  and  no  German  ship  of  any  kind  was 
seen  at  sea." 

That  much  patience  had  to  be  exercised  by  the  seamen  of 
the  North  Sea  fleet  is  evidenced  by  a  letter  in  which  the  writer 
said  to  his  family,  "If  you  want  to  get  away  from  the  excite- 
ment of  war,  you  should  be  here  with  me. "  This  situation,  of 
course,  might  be  changed  at  a  moment 's  notice.  The  London 
Times  said  in  September :  "  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  our 
seamen  today  envy  a  little  the  old-time  sailors  who  did  not 
have  to  compete  with  such  things  as  mines,  destroyers  and 


258  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS 

submarines.  In  the  accounts  of  the  old  blockades  we  read  how 
by  means  of  music  and  dancing,  and  even  theatrical  entertain- 
ments, the  monotonous  nature  of  the  work  was  counteracted, 
and  the  officers  of  the  ships,  including  Nelson  and  other  great 
commanders,  welcomed  these  diversions  for  the  prevention  of 
the  evils  which  might  be  bred  by  enforced  idleness.  It  is  a 
true  saying  that  everything  that  stagnates  corrupts.  There 
is  no  possible  chance  of  the  crews  of  our  modem  vessels  stag- 
nating under  the  new  conditions  of  war.  Whether  engaged  in 
blockading  in  the  big  ships,  scouting  in  the  cruisers,  or  patrol- 
ling the  coasts  in  the  destroyers,  the  life  is  described  as  tr-e- 
mendously  interesting  and  exciting.  There  has  been  no  sense 
of  monotony  whatever.  Indeed,  the  conditions  are  such  that, 
were  it  not  obligatory  for  portions  of  every  crew  to  take  rest, 
all  of  them  would  be  continually  on  the  alert.  AVe  may  be  cer- 
tain that  arrangements  have  been  made  for  ensuring  that  the 
crews  obtain  periods  of  relaxation  from  the  constant  strain; 
but  the  only  real  change  comes  in  the  big  ships  when  they  have 
of  necessity  to  refill  their  bunkers. ' ' 


LOSS  OF  THE  CRUISER  AJUPHION 

The  cruiser  Amphion  was  the  first  British  war  vessel 
lost  in  the  war.  The  survivors  on  landing  at  the  North  Sea 
port  of  Harwich,  England,  on  August  10,  stated  that  hardly 
had  they  left  Harwich  than  they  were  ordered  to  clear  the 
decks  for  action.  They  sighted  the  German  mine-laying  ves- 
sel Koenigin  Luise,  and,  as  it  refused  to  stop  even  when 
a  shot  was  fired  across  its  bows,  they  gave  chase. 

The  German  ship  fired  and  then  the  destroyers,  accom- 
panying the  Amphion,  surrounded  and  sank  it  after  a  brief 
combined  bombardment. 

The  captain,  it  is  said,  was  beside  himself  with  fuiy.  He 
had  a  revolver  in  his  hand  and  threatened  his  men  as  they 
prepared  to  surrender  to  the  rescuing  ships.  He  flatly  refused 
to  give  himself  up  and  was  taken  by  force. 

When  the  smoke  of  a  big  ship  was  seen  on  the  horizon 
the  Amphion  gave  chase,  firing  a  warning  shot  as  it  drew 
near  the  vessel,  which  at  once  made  known  its  identity  as 
the  Harwioh  boat  St.  Petersburg,  carrying  Prince  Lichnow- 
£ky,  the  German  ambassftdor,  to  the  Hook  of  Holland. 


IS* 


«-^  ^J^^^ 


A  typical  aerial  battle.  Destruction  of  a  Boche  plane  by  dauntless  American  avia- 
tors, swooping-  like  eagles  upon  their  prev,  regardless  of  the  anti-aircraft  shells  that 
burst  all  about  them,  and  helping  by  their  intrepidity  and  skill  to  clear  the  air  of  the 
Hun  and  maintain  the  supremacy  gained  by  the  Allies  in  aerial  warfare.  Thousands 
of  American  flyers  were  trained  and  ready  to  carry  the  war  into  Germany  when  the 
Teuton  forces  collapsed  and  cried  "Enough!"     {Photo  from  I.  F.  S.)  (^ 


Above — Field  dressiny  -station  on  lupturt-d  ground  near  fambrai,  during  the  last 
great  drive  on  the  British  front.  The  wounded  are  being  brought  in  by  German  pris- 
oners taken  during  the  drive,  as  seen  in  the  foreground.  A  typical  scene  at  a  dressing 
station,  wiiere  (iist  aid  is  given  the  wounded.    (British  Official  Photo,  from  I.  F.  S.) 

Helow — A  dashing  attack  by  French  !>oilus,  advancing  vvith  full  packs,  bayonets 
fixed,  and  typical  daring  and  curage.  The  spirit  of  the  poilu  is  admirably  illustrated 
in  this  snapshot.    (Fholo  by  I.  F.  ti.) 


Si 

a 
s 


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o 

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tl 

H 


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u 

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fcjj 

c 

CO 


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p. 

o 
o 

Pi 


Above — American  observation  balloon  being  brought  down  to  its  anchorage.  One 
of  manv  similar  balloons  used  to  direct  the  fire  of  artillery  and  observe  the  movements 
of  the  enemy,  a  service  of  considerable  danger  as  the  baloonists  are  constantly  exposed 
to  airplane  attack.  Each  observer  is  harnessed  to  a  parachute  and  jumps  when  the 
ballocin  is  attacked  and  in  danger  of  destruction.  (Copyririht  by  C.  P.  I.,  from  W.  N.  U.) 

Below — Canadian  officers  of  a  Royal  Air  Squadron,  lined  up  with  their  machines 
behind  the  front  in  France.  Tt  was  the  splendid  work  of  these  gallant  fellows  and  thou- 
sands more  like  them — British,  French,  and  Americans — that  kept  the  supremacy  of 
the  air  in  the  hands  of  the  Allies.     (Canadian  Official  Photo,  copyright  by  U.  d  17.) 


MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS  259 

While  returning  to  port  came  the  tragedy  of  the  Amphion. 
As  it  struck  a  sunken  mine  it  gave  two  plunging  jerks.  Then 
came  an  explosion  which  ripped  up  its  forepart,  shot  up  its 
funnels  like  arrows  from  a  bow,  and  lifted  its  hea^^  guns 
into  the  air.  The  falhng  material  struck  several  of  the  boats 
of  the  flotilla  and  injured  some  of  the  men  on  board  them. 

The  Amphion 's  men  were  dreadfully  burned  and  scalded 
and  had  marks  on  their  faces  and  bodies  which  resembled 
splashes  of  acid. 

The  scene  at  Harwich  was  like  that  which  follows  a  col- 
liery explosion.  Of  the  British  seamen  in  the  hospital  thirteen 
were  suffering  from  severe  burns,  five  from  less  serious 
burns,  two  from  the  effects  of  lyddite  fumes,  and  one  each 
from  concussion,  severe  injury,  slight  wounds,  shock,  and 
slight  burns.  A  few  wounded  German  sailors  also  lay  in 
the  hospital. 

SINKING  A  GERMAN"  SUBMARINE 

On  August  12  there  came  from  Edinburgh  the  story  of 
an  eyewitness  of  a  naval  battle  in  the  North  Sea  on  the  pre- 
vious Sunday  between  British  cruisers  and  German  subma- 
rines, in  which  the  German  submarine  U-15  was  sunk. 

**The  cruiser  squadron  on  Sunday,"  the  story  ran,  ''sud- 
denly became  aware  of  the  approach  of  the  submarine  flotilla. 
The  enemy  was  submerged,  only  the  periscopes  showing  above 
the  surface  of  the  water. 

"The  attitude  of  the  British  in  the  face  of  this  attack 
was  cool  and  the  enemy  was  utterly  misled  when  suddenly 
the  cruiser  Birmingham,  steaming  at  full  speed,  fired  the  first 
shot.  This  shot  was  carefully  aimed,  not  at  the  submerged 
body  of  a  submarine,  but  at  the  thin  line  of  the  periscope. 

"The  gunnery  was  superbly  accurate  and  shattered  the 
periscope.  Thereupon  the  submarine,  now  a  blinded  thing, 
rushed  along  under  water  in  imminent  danger  of  self-destruc- 
tion from  collision  with  the  cruisers  above. 

"The  sightless  submarine  was  then  forced  to  come  to 
the  surface,  whereupon  the  Birmingham's  gunner  fired  the 
second  shot  of  the  fight.  This  shot  struck  at  the  base  of  the 
conning  tower,  ripping  the  whole  of  the  upper  structure  clean 
and  the  U-15  sank  like  a  stone. 

"The  remainder  of  the  submarine  flotilla  fled.'' 


260  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS 

xCWAL  BATTLE  OFF  HELIGOLAND 

In  the  last  week  of  August  a  naval  engagement  occurred 
off  the  island  of  Heligoland,  in  the  North  Sea.  British  war 
vessels  sank  five  German  ships,  killing  900  men.  A  graphic 
description  of  the  engagement  was  given  by  a  young  lieuten- 
ant who  was  on  one  of  the  British  torpedo  boat  destroyers: 

"I  think  the  home  papers  are  magnifying  what  really 
was  but  an  affair  of  outposts.  We  destroyers  went  in  and 
lured  the  enemy  out  and  had  lots  of  excitement.  The  big  fel- 
lows then  came  up  and  afforded  some  excellent  target  prac- 
tice, and  we  were  very  glad  to  see  them  come;  but  it  was  a 
massacre,  not  a  fight. 

''There  was  superb  generalship  and  overwhelming  forces 
on  the  spot,  but  there  was  really  nothing  for  them  to  do 
except  to  shoot  the  enemy,  even  as  father  shoots  pheasants. 

"Have  you  ever  noticed  a  dog  rush  in  on  a  flock  of  sheep 
and  scatter  them?  He  goes  for  the  nearest  and  barks  and 
goes  so  much  faster  than  the  flock  that  it  bunches  up  with  its 
companions.  The  dog  then  barks  at  another  and  the  sheep 
spread  out  fanwise,  so  in  front  of  the  dog  there  is  a  semicircle 
of  sheep  and  behind  him  none. 

''That  was  much  what  we  did  at  7  a.  ^.  on  August  28. 
The  sheep  were  the  German  torpedo  craft,  which  fell  back 
on  the  limits  of  our  range  and  tried  to  lure  ue'  within  the  fire 
of  the  Heligoland  forts.  But  a  cruiser  then  came  out  and 
engaged  our  Arethusa  and  they  had  a  real  heart-to-heart 
talk,  while  we  looked  on,  and  a  few  of  ns  tried  to  shoot  at 
the  enemy,  too,  though  it  was  beyond  our  distance. 

*'We  were  getting  nearer  Heligoland  all  the  time.  There 
was  a  thick  mist  and  I  expected  every  minute  to  find  the 
forts  on  the  island  bombarding  us,  so  the  Arethusa  presently 
drew  off  after  landing  at  least  one  good  shell  on  the  enemy. 
The  enemy  gave  every  hit  as  good  as  he  got  there. 

*'We  then  reformed,  but  a  strong  destroyer  belonging  to 
the  submarines  got  chased,  and  the  Arethusa  and  Fearless 
went  back  to  look  after  it.  We  presently  heard  a  hot  action 
astern,  so  the  captain  in  command  of  the  flotilla  turned  us 
around  and  we  went  back  to  help.    But  they  had  driven  the 


MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS  261 

enemy  off  and  on  our  arrival  told  us  to  'form  up'  on  the 
Arethusa. 

CRUISER   FIRES   ON   SHIPS 

"When  we  liad  partly  formed  and  were  very  much  bunched 
together,  making  a  fine  target,  suddenly  out  of  the  mist  ar- 
rived five  or  six  shells  from  a  point  not  150  yards  away.  We 
gazed  at  whence  they  came  and  again  five  or  six  stabs  of  fire 
pierced  the  fog,  and  we  made  out  a  four-funneled  German 
cruiser  of  the  Breslau  class. 

''Those  stabs  were  its  guns  going  off.  We  waited  fifteen 
seconds  and  the  shots  and  noise  of  its  guns  arrived  pretty 
well  from  fifty  yards  away.  Its  next  salvo  of  shots  went 
above  us,  and  I  ducked  as  they  whirred  overhead  like  a  covey 
of  fast  partridges. 

"You  would  suppose  our  captain  had  done  this  sort  of 
thing  all  his  life.  He  went  full  speed  ahead  at  once,  upon 
the  first  salvo,  to  string  the  bunch  out  and  thus  offer  less 
target.  The  commodore  from  the  Arethusa  made  a  signal 
to  us  to  attack  with  torpedoes.  So  we  swung  round  at  right 
angles  and  charged  full  speed  at  the  enemy  like  a  hussar 
attack. 

''Our  boat  got  away  at  the  start  magnificently  and  led 
the  field,  so  all  the  enemy's  firing  was  aimed  at  us  for  the 
next  ten  minutes,  when  we  got  so  close  that  debris  from  their 
shells  fell  on  board.  Then  we  altered  our  course  and  so 
threw  them  out  in  their  reckoning  of  our  speed,  and  they  had 
all  their  work  to  do  over  again. 

"Humanly  speaking,  our  captain  by  twisting  and  turning 
at  psychological  moments  saved  us.  Actually,  I  feel  that 
we  were  in  God's  keeping  that  day.  After  ten  minutes  we 
got  near  enough  to  fire  our  torpedo.  Then  we  turned  back 
to  the  Arethusa.  Next  our  follower  arrived  just  where  we 
had  been  and  fired  its  torpedo,  and  of  course  the  enemy  fired 
at  it  instead  of  at  us.    What  a  blessed  relief ! 

"After  the  destroyers  came  the'  Fearless,  and  it  stayed 
on  the  scene.  Soon  we  found  it  was  engaging  a  three-funneler, 
the  Mainz,  so  off  we  started  again,  now  for  the  Mainz,  the 
situation  being  that  the  crippled  Arethusa  was  too  tubby  to 
do  anything  but  be  defended  by  us,  its  children. 

"Scarcely,  however,  had  we  started  when,  from  out  of 


262  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS 

the  mist  and  across  our  front,  in  furious  pursuit  came  the 
first  cruiser  squadron  of  the  town  class,  the  Birmingham,  and 
each  unit  a  match  for  three  like  the  Mainz,  which  was  soon 
sunk.  As  we  looked  and  reduced  speed  they  opened  fire, 
and  the  cleai*  bang-bang  of  their  guns  was  just  like  a  cooling 
drink. 

**To  see  a  real  big  four-funneler  spouting  flame,  which 
flame  denoted  shells  starting,  and  those  shells  not  at  us  but 
for  us,  was  the  most  cheerful  thing  possible.  Once  we  were 
in  safety,  I  hated  it.  We  had  just  been  having  our  own  imag- 
inations stimulated  on  the  subject  of  shells  striking. 

**Now,  a  few  minutes  later,  to  see  another  ship  not  three 
miles  away,  reduced  to  a  piteous  mass  of  unrecognizability, 
wreathed  in  black  fumes  from  which  flared  out  angry  gusts 
of  fire  like  Vesuvius  in  eruption,  as  an  unending  stream  of 
hundred-pound  shells  burst  on  board  it,  just  pointed  the  moral 
and  showed  us  what  might  have  been. 

'*The  Mainz  was  immensely  gallant.  The  last  I  saw  of 
it  it  was  absolutely  wrecked.  It  was  a  fuming  inferno.  But 
it  had  one  gun  forward  and  one  aft  still  spitting  forth  fury 
and  defiance  like  a  wild  cat. 

''Then  we  went  west,  while  they  went  east.  Just  a  bit 
later  we  heard  the  thunder  of  the  enemy's  guns  for  a  space. 
Then  fell  silence,  and  we  knew  that  was  all. 

A  MABVELOUS  BESCUE 

**The  most  romantic,  dramatic,  and  piquant  episode  that 
modern  war  can  ever  show  came  next.  The  Defender,  hav- 
ing sunk  an  enemy,  lowered  a  whaler  to  pick  up  its  swimming 
survivors.  Before  the  whaler  got  back,  an  enemy's  cruiser 
came  up  and  chased  the  Defender,  which  thus  had  to  aban- 
don its  small  boat. 

''Imagine  their  feelings,  alone  in  an  open  boat  without 
food,  twenty-five  miles  from  the  nearest  land,  and  that  land 
an  enemy's  fortress,  with  nothing  but  fog  and  foes  around 
them,  and  then  suddenly  a  swirl  alongside,  and  up,  if  you 
please,  hops  His  Britannic  Majesty's  submarine  E-4,  opens 
its  conning  tower,  takes  them  all  on  board,  shuts  up  again, 
dives  and  brings  them  home,  250  miles. ' ' 


MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS  263 

THREE  BEITISH  CRUISERS  SUNK 

On  Tnesday  morning,  September  22,  the  British  cruisers 
lA-bonkir,  Cressy  and  Hogne  were  torpedoed  and  sunk  by  a 
German  submarine  in  the  North  Sea.  Each  of  the  vessels 
carried  a  crew  of  about  650  men,  and  the  total  of  the  death  roll 
was  about  1,400. 

The  three  cruisers  had  for  some  time  been  patrolling  the 
North  Sea.  Soon  after  6  o  'clock  in  the  morning  the  Aboukir 
suddenly  felt  a  shock  on  the  port  side.  A  dull  explosion  was 
laeard  and  a  column  of  water  was  thrown  up  mast  high.  The 
explosion  wrecked  the  stokehold  just  forward  of  amidships 
and  tore  the  bottom  open. 

Almost  immediately  the  doomed  cruiser  began  to  settle. 
Except  for  the  watch  on  deck,  most  of  the  crew  were  asleep, 
wearied  by  the  constant  vigil  in  bad  weather,  but  in  perfect 
order  the  officers  and  men  rushed  to  quarters.  The  quick- 
firers  were  manned  in  the  hope  of  a  dying  shot  at  the  sub- 
marine, but  there  was  not  a  glimpse  of  one. 

Meanwhile  the  Aboukir 's  sister  cruisers,  more  than  a  mile 
away,  saw  and  heard  the  explosion  and  thought  the  Aboukir 
had  struck  a  mine.  They  closed  iu  and  lowered  boats.  This 
sealed  their  own  fate,  for,  while  they  were  standing  by  to 
rescue  survivors,  first  the  Hogue  and  then  the  Cressy  was 
torpedoed. 

Only  the  Cressy  appears  to  have  seen  the  submarine  in 
time  to  attempt  to  retaliate,  and  she  fired  a  few  shots  before 
she  keeled  over,  broken  in  two,  and  sank. 

British  naval  officers  by  this  time  were  beginning  to  won- 
der how  long  the  German  high  seas  fleet  intended  to  remain 
under  cover  in  the  Kiel  canal. 

**Our  only  grievance,"  one  said,  **is  that  we  have  not  had 
a  shot  at  the  Germans.  Our  only  share  of  the  war  has  been  a 
few  uncomfortable  weeks  of  bad  weather,  miues  and  sub- 
marines." 

A  number  of  the  survivors  were  taken  to  the  Dutch  port  of 
Ymuiden,  where  they  were  interned  as  technical  prisoners 
of  war. 

THE  GERMAN  COMMANDER 's  STORY 

The  German  submarine  which  accomplished  the  hitherto 
unparalleled  feat  \v:as  the  U-9,  in  command  of  Capt.-Lieut.  Otto 


264  MYSTERY.  OF  THE  FLEETS 

Weddigen,  whose  interesting  story  was  given  to  the  pnblic 
througk  the  German  Admiralty  on  October  6,  as  follows : 

"I  set  out  from  a  North  Sea  port  on  one  of  the  arms  of  the 
Kiel  canal  and  set  my  course  in  a  southwesterly  direction. 
The  name  of  the  port  I  cannot  state  officially,  but  it  was  not 
many  days  before  the  morning  of  September  22  when  I  fell 
in  with  my  quarry. 

''British  torpedo-boats  came  within  my  reach,  but  I  felt 
there  was  bigger  game  further  on,  so  on  I  went.  It  was  ten 
minutes  after  six  in  the  morning  of  the  22nd  when  I  caught 
sight  of  one  of  the  big  cruisers  of  the  enemy. 

"I  was  then  eighteen  sea  miles  northwesterly  of  the  Hook 
of  Holland.  I  had  traveled  considerably  more  than  200  miles 
from  my  base.  I  had  been  going  ahead  partially  submerged, 
with  about  five  feet  of  my  periscope  showing. 

''Almost  immediately  I  caught  sight  of  the  first  cruiser 
and  two  others.  I  submerged  completely  and  laid  my  course  in 
order  to  bring  up  in  center  of  the  trio,  which  held  a  sort  of 
triangular  formation.  I  could  see  their  gray-black  sides  riding 
high  over  the  water. 

"When  I  first  sighted  them  they  were  near  enough  for  tor- 
pedo work,  but  I  wanted  to  make  my  aim  sure,  so  I  went  down 
and  in  on  them.  I  had  taken  the  position  of  the  three  ships 
before  submerging,  and  I  succeeded  in  getting  another  flash 
through  my  periscope  before  I  began  action.  I  soon  reached 
what  I  regarded  as  a  good  shooting  point. 

"Then  I  loosed  one  of  my  torpedoes  at  the  middle  ship. 
I  was  then  about  twelve  feet  under  water  and  got  the  shot  off 
in  good  shape,  my  men  handling  the  boat  as  if  it  had  been  a 
skiff.  I  climbed  to  the  surface  to  get  a  sight  through  my  tube 
of  the  effect  and  discovered  that  the  shot  had  gone  straight 
and  true,  striking  the  ship,  which  I  later  learned  was  the  Abou- 
kir,  under  one  of  its  magazines,  which  in  exploding  helped  the 
torpedo 's  work  of  destruction. 

"There  was  a  fountain  of  water,  a  burst  of  smoke,  a  flash 
of  fire,  and  part  of  the  cruiser  rose  in  the  air. 

STRIKES  THE  SECOND  CRUISER 

"Its  crew  were  brave  and,  even  with  death  staring  them  in 
the  face,  kept  to  their  posts.  I  submerged  at  once.  But  I  had 
stayed  on  top  long  enough  to  see  the  other  cruisers,  which  I 


MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS  265 

learned  were  tlie  Cressy  and  the  Hogue,  turn  and  steam  full 
speed  to  their  dying  sister. 

**As  I  reached  my  torpedo  depth  I  sent  a  second  charge  at 
the  nearest  of  the  oncoming  vessels,  which  was  the  Hogue. 
The  English  were  playing  my  game,  for  I  had  scarcely  to  move 
out  of  my  position,  which  was  a  great  aid,  since  it  helped  to 
keep  me  from  detection. 

* '  The  attack  on  the  Hogue  went  true.  But  this  time  I  did 
not  have  the  advantageous  aid  of  having  the  torpedo  detonate 
under  the  magazine,  so  for  twenty  minutes  the  Hogue  lay 
wounded  and  helpless  on  the  surface  before  it  heaved,  half 
turned  over,  and  sank. 

*'By  this  time  the  third  cruiser  knew,  of  course,  that  the 
enemy  was  upon  it,  and  it  sought  as  best  it  could  to  defend 
itself.  It  loosed  its  torpedo  defense  batteries  on  bows,  star- 
board, and  port,  and  sf  ood  its  ground  as  if  more  anxious  to 
help  the  many  sailors  in  the  water  than  to  save  itself. 

'*In  the  common  method  of  defending  itself  against  a 
submarine  attack,  it  steamed  in  a  zigzag  course,  and  this  made 
it  necessary  for  me  to  hold  my  torpedoes  until  I  could  lay  a 
true  course  for  them,  which  -^Iso  made  it  necessary  for  me  to 
get  nearer  to  the  Cressy. 

*'I  had  to  come  to  the  surface  for  a  view,  and  saw  how 
wildly  the  fire  was  being  sent  from  the  ship.  Small  wonder 
that  was  when  they  aid  not  know  where  to  shoot,  although  one 
shot  went  unpleasantly  near  us. 

''When  I  got  within  suitable  range  I  sent  away  my  third 
attack.  This  time  I  sent  a  second  torpedo  after  the  first  to 
make  the  strike  doubly  certain.  My  crew  were  aiming  like 
sharpshooters  and  both  torpedoes  went  to  their  bull's-eye. 
M>  luck  was  with  me  again,  for  the  enemy  was  made  useless 
ano  at  once  began  sinking  by  the  head.  Then  it  careened  far 
over,  but  all  the  while  its  men  stayed  at  the  guns  looking  for 
their  invisible  foe. 

"They  were  brave  and  true  to  their  country's  sea  tradi- 
tions. Then  it  eventually  suffered  a  boiler  explosion  and  com- 
pletely turned  turtle.  With  its  keel  uppermost  it  floated  until 
the  air  got  out  from  under  it  and  then  it  sank  with  a  loud 
sound,  as  if  from  a  creature  in  pain. 

"The  whole  affair  had  taken  less  than  one  hour  from  the 


266  MYSTERY.  OF  THE  FLEETS 

time  of  shooting  off  the  first  torpedo  tuitil  the  CreSsy  went  to 
the  bottom. 

''I  set  my  course  for  home.  Before  I  got  far  some  British 
cruisers  and  destroyers  were  on  the  spot  and  the  destroyers 
took  up  the  chase. 

*'I  kept  under  water  most  of  the  way,  but  managed  to  get 
off  a  wireless  to  the  German  fleet  that  I  was  heading  homeward 
and  being  pursued.  But  although  British  destroyers  saw  me 
plainly  at  dusk  on  the  22d  and  made  a  final  effort  to  stop  me, 
they  abandoned  the  attempt,  as  it  was  taking  them  too  far 
from  safety  and  needlessly  e:^posing  them  to  attack  from  our 
fleet  and  submarines.** 


MERCHANTMEN  CAPTUEED  AND  SUNK 

During  the  first  months  of  the  war  a  large  number  of  mer- 
chant vessels,  principally  Germai  a7.d  British,  were  captured 
or  sunk.  According  to  a  British  Admiralty  return,  issued  Sep- 
tember 28,  twelve  British  ships  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of 
59,331  tons  had  been  sunk  on  the  high  seas  by  German  cruisers 
up  to  September  23.  Eight  other  British  ships,  whose  ton- 
nage aggregated  2,970,  had  been  gunk  by  German  mines  in  the 
North  Sea,  and  24  fishing  crafty  with  a  tonnage  of  4,334,  had 
been  captured  or  sunk  by  the  Germans  in  the  same  waters. 
British  ships  detained  at  German  ports  numbered  74,  with  a 
total  tonnage  of  170,000. 

On  the  other  side  the  Admiralty  reported  102  German, 
ships,  with  a  total  tonnage  of  200,000,  detained  in  British  ports 
since  the  outbreak  of  xhe  war ;  while  88  German  ships,  of  an 
aggregate  tonnage  of  338,000,  had  been  captured  since  hostili- 
ties began. 

The  return  also  showed  that  168  German  ships,  with  an 
aggregate  tonnage  of  283,000,  had  been  detained  or  captured 
by  the  Allies.  Fifteen  ships,  with  a  tonnage  of  247,000,  were 
detained  in  American  ports,  while  fourteen  others,  with  a  ton- 
nage of  72,000,  remained  in  the  Suez  Canal. 

The  German  mines  in  the  North  Sea  had  also  destroyed 
seven  Scandinavian  ships,  with  a  tonnage  of  11,098. 

GERMAN  CRUISERS  ACTIVE 

Several  German  cruisers  were  amazingly  active  in  distant 
waters  early  in  the  war.  Amon^  these  were  the  Goeben,  Bres- 
lau,  Emden,  Karlsruhe,  and  Leipzig,  which  captured  or  sank 


MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS  267 

a  mimber  of  vessels  of  the  enemy.  The  German  cruisers 
Scharnhorst  and  Gneisenau  also  operated  in  the  Pacific, 
bombarding  the  French  colony  of  Papeete,  on  the  island  of 
Tahiti,  and  inflicting  much  damage,  including  the  sinking  of 
two  vessels. 

On  August  26  the  big  converted  German  liner  Kaiser  Wil~ 
helm  der  Grosse,  while  cruising  on  the  northwest  coast  of 
Africa,  was  sunk  by  the  British  cruiser  Highflyer. 

The  German  cruiser  Dresden  was  reported  sunk  by  British 
cruisers  in  South  American  waters  in  the  second  week  of  Sep- 
tember. The  Emden,  operating  under  the  German  flag  in  the 
Indian  Ocean,  sank  several  British  steamers.  Several  Aus- 
trian vessels  succumbed  to  mines  off  the  coast  of  Dalmatia  and 
in  the  Baltic  there  were  a  number  of  casualties  in  which  both 
Eussian  and  German  cruisers  suffered.  The  Russian  armored 
cruiser  Bayan  was  sunk  in  a  fight  near  the  entrance  to  the 
Gulf  of  Finland. 

On  September  20  the  German  protected  cruiser  Koenigs- 
berg  attacked  the  British  fight  cruiser  Pegasus  in  the  harbor 
of  Zanzibar  and  disabled  her.  Off  the  east  coast  of  South 
America  the  British  auxiliary  cruiser  Carmania,  a  former 
Cunard  liner,  destroyed  a  German  merchant  cruiser  mounting 
eight  four-inch  guns.  About  the  same  time  the  German 
cruiser  Hela  was  sunk  in  the  North  Sea  by  the  British  sub- 
marine E-9.  The  Kronprinz  Wilhelm,  a  former  German  linery 
which  had  been  supplying  coal  to  German  cruisers  in  the 
Atlantic,  was  also  sunk  by  the  British. 

GEKMAN  COLONY  OCCUPIED 

The  British  Admiralty  announced  on  September  12  that 
the  Australian  fleet  had  occupied  Herbertshoehe,  on  Blanche 
Bay,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  German  Bismarck  Archi- 
pelago and  the  Solomon  Islands. 

The  Bismarck  Archipelago,  with  an  area  of  18,000  square 
miles  and  a  population  of  200,000,  is  off  the  north  coast  of 
Australia  and  southwest  of  the  Philippine  Islands.  The  group 
was  assigned  to  the  German  sphere  of  influence  by  an  agree- 
ment with  Great  Britain  in  1885.  German  New  Guinea  was 
included  in  the  jurisdiction. 

GERMANS  SINK  RUSS  CRUISER 

On  October  11  German  submarines  in  the  Baltic  torpedoed 
and  sank  the  Bussian  armored  cruiser  Pallada  with  all  its 


268  MYSTERY  OF  THE  FLEETS 

crew,  numbering  568  men.  The  Pallada  had  a  displacement 
of  7,775  tons  and  was  a  sister  ship  of  the  Admiral  Makarov 
and  Bayan.  She  was  launched  in  November,  1906,  and  had 
a  water-line  length  of  443  feet;  beam,  57  feet;  draft  of  2I14 
feet,  and  a  speed  of  21  knots.  She  carried  two  8-inch,  eight 
6-inch,  twenty-two  12-pounders,  four  3-pounders,  and  two  tor- 
pedo tubes.  Seven  inches  of  Krupp  armor  protected  the  ves- 
sel amidships  and  four  inches  forward. 

The  Pallada  was  engaged  in  patrolling  the  Baltic  with  the 
Admiral  Makarov  when  attacked  by  the  submarines.  She 
opened  a  strong  fire  on  them,  but  was  blown  up  by  a  torpedo 
launched  by  one  of  the  submerged  craft,  while  the  Makarov 
escaped. 

BRITISH    CRUISER    HAWKE    SUNK 

On  October  15th,  while  the  British  cruisers  Hawke  and 
Theseus  were  patrolling  the  northern  waters  of  the  North 
Sea,  they  were  attacked  by  a  German  submarine.  The  Hawke, 
a  cruiser  of  7,750  tons,  commanded  by  Capt.  H.  P.  E.  T.  Wil- 
liams, was  torpedoed  and  sank  in  eight  minutes.  Only  seventy- 
three  of  her  crew  of  400  officers  and  men  were  saved. 


BRITISH  AVENGE  AMPHION^S  LOSS 

Capt.  Cecil  H.  Fox,  who  was  in  command  of  the  British 
cruiser  Amphion  when  she  was  destroyed  by  a  German  mine 
early  in  the  war,  had  his  revenge  on  October  17,  when,  in  com- 
mand of  the  cruiser  Undaunted,  he  sank  four  German  torpedo 
boat  destroyers  off  the  coast  of  Holland.  Only  31  of  the  com- 
bined crews  of  400  men  were  saved  and  these  were  taken  as 
prisoners  of  war. 


CHAPTER  XVT 
SUBMARINES  AND  MINES 

Battleships  in  Constant  Danger  from  Submerged  Craft — - 
Opinions  of  Admiral  Sir  Percy  Scott — Construction  of, 
Modern  Torpedoes — How  Mines  Are  Laid  and  Ex- 
ploded on  Contact. 

SIR  PERCY  SCOTT,  admiral  in  the  Britisli  navy,  whd 
through  his  inventions  made  possible  the  advance  in 

marksmanship  with  heavy  guns  and  increased  the  possi- 
bilities of  hitting  at  long  range  and  of  broadside  firing,  said 
recently  that  everything  he  has  done  to  enhance  the  value  of 
the  gun  is  rendered  useless  by  the  advent  of  the  latest  type 
of  submarine,  a  vessel  which  has  for  its  principal  weapon  the 
torpedo.  Dreadnoughts  and  super-dreadnoughts  are  doomed, 
because  they  no  longer  can  be  safe  at  sea  from  the  submarine 
nor  find  safety  in  harbors. 

**The  introduction  of  vessels  that  swim  under  water,*'  he 
said,  **has  in  my  opinion  entirely  done  away  with  the  utility] 
of  the  ships  that  swim  on  top  of  the  water.  The  functions 
of  a  war  vessel  were  these :  Defensively,  [1]  to  attack  ships 
that  come  to  bombard  our  forts,  [2]  to  attack  ships  that  come 
to  blockade  us,  [3|  tS  attack  ships  convoying  a  landing  party, 
[4]  to  attack  the  enliny's  fleet,  [5]  to  attack  ships  interfering 
with  our  commerce;  offensively,  [1]  to  bombard  an  enemy^s 
ports,  [2]  to  blockade  an  enemy,  [3]  to  convoy  a  landing 
party,  [4]  to  attack  the  enemy's  fleet,  [5]  to  attack  the  enemy's 
conmcierce. 

**The  submarine  renders  1,  2  and  3  impossible,  as  no  man 
of  war  will  dare  to  come  even  within  sight  of  a  coast  that  is 
adequately  protected  by  submarines.     3^he  fourth  functioii 

269 


270  SUBMARINES  AND  MINES 

of  a  battleship  is  to  attack  an  enemy's  fleet,  but  there  will  be 
no  fleet  to  attack,  as  it  will  not  be  safe  for  a  fleet  to  put  to 
sea.  Submarines  and  aeroplanes  have  entirely  revolution- 
ized naval  warfare;  no  fleet  can  hide  itself  from  the  aero- 
plane's eye,  and  the  submarine  can  deliver  a  deadly  attack 
in  broad  daylight. 

''In  time  of  war  the  scouting  aeroplanes  will  always  be 
high  above  on  the  lookout,  and  the  submarines  in  constant 
readiness.  If  an  enemy  is  sighted  the  gong  sounds  and  the 
leash  of  a  flotilla  of  submarines  will  be  slipped.  'Whether  it 
be  night  or  day,  fine  or  rough,  they  must  go  out  in  search  of 
their  quarry;  if  they  find  her  she  is  doomed  and  they  give 
no  quarter;  they  cannot  board  her  and  take  her  as  prize  as 
in  the  olden  days;  they  only  wait  till  she  sinks,  then  return 
home  without  even  knowing  the  number  of  human  beings  they 
have  sent  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 

*'Not  only  is  the  open  sea  unsafe;  a  battleship  is  not  im- 
mune from  attack  even  in  a  closed  harbor,  for  the  so-called 
protecting  boom  at  the  entrance  can  easily  be  blown  up.  "With 
a  flotilla  of  submarines  commanded  by  dashing  young  offi- 
cers, of  whom  we  have  plenty,  I  would  undertake  to  get 
through  any  boom  into  any  harbor  and  sink  or  materially 
damage  all  the  ships  in  that  harbor." 

A   PEACTICAL    MAn's   VIEWS 

This  is  not  a  mere  theorist  or  dreamer  talking,  says  Bur- 
ton Roscoe  in  commenting  on  Admiral  Scott's  statements; 
it  is  the  one  man  in  England  most  supremely  versed  in  naval 
tactics,  the  man  to  whom  all  nations  owe  the  present  effective- 
ness of  the  broadside  of  eight,  twelve  and  fourteen  inch  guns 
and  the  perfection  in  sighting  long  range  guns. 

The  newest  type  of  submarine  torpedo  is  100  per  cent  effi- 
cient. The  torpedo  net  of  steel  that  used  to  be  the  ship's 
defense  against  torpedoes  is  now  useless.  The  modern  tor- 
pedoes need  only  to  come  in  contact  with  a  surface  like  the 
torpedo  net  or  the  armor  plate  of  a  battleship  to  discharge 
a  shell  which  will  burst  through  a  two-inch  armor  caisson, 
rupture  the  hull  of  a  battleship,  and  sink  it  in  a  few  minutes. 

The  torpedo  submarines  of  the  modern  type  have  a  sub- 
merged speed  of  from  eight  to  ten  knots  an  hour.  Only  a 
small  surface,  including  the  bridge  or  conning  tower,  is  ex- 


SUBMARINES  AND  MINES  271 

posed,  thus  making  it  almost  impossible  to  Mt  them  with  the 
clmnsy  guns  aboard  ship.  The  highest  type  of  submarine 
has  a  submerged  tonnage  of  812  tons  and  its  length  is  176 
feet. 

Each  submarine  carries  from  one  to  six  torpedoes,  each 
of  which  is  capable  of  sinking  the  most  heavily  armored  ves- 
sel afloat.  The  sighter  in  the  conning  tower  moves  swiftly 
up  within  range  of  the  vessel  he  is  attacking  and  gives  the 
signal  for  the  discharge  of  the  torpedo.  The  men  aboard 
the  attacked  ship  have  no  warning  of  their  impending  death 
except  a  thin  sheaf  of  water  that  follows  on  the  surface  ia 
the  wake  of  the  submerged  torpedo  and  which  lasts  only  an 
instant 

BUN  BY  COMPRESSED  AIR 

By  a  compressed  air  arrangement  motive  power  is  fur- 
nished the  torpedo  in  transit  for  its  propellers.  A  gyroscope 
keeps  it  on  a  plane  and  upright.  A  striker  on  the  nose  of 
the  torpedo  is  released  by  a  fan  which  revolves  in  the  water. 
The  nose  of  the  torpedo  strikes  the  side  of  the  battleship  and 
the  compact  jars  the  primer  of  fulminate  of  mercury.  Tho 
high  explosive  of  gunpowder  forces  out  a  shell  and  explodes 
with  it  after  the  shell  has  penetrated  the  armor.  Then  the 
work  is  done. 

It  is  generally  believed  the  principal  harbors  and  fortifica- 
tions in  England  are  heavily  supplied  with  torpedoes  of  the 
new  type.  It  is  also  believed  that  the^fortifications  about  the 
Eiver  Elbe  are  thus  equipped.  If  this  is  a  fact  the  defending 
nation  will  be  able  not  only  to  repulse  any  fleet  attempting 
an  invasion  but  also  to  destroy  it.  By  throwing  across  the 
Straits  of  Dover,  or  across  the  lower  end  of  the  North  Sea, 
a  flotilla  of  its  powerful  submarines  England  can  prevent 
any  naval  invasion  of  France  or  England  or  Belgium  by 
Germany  should  the  attacking  fleet  take  this  route. 

In  the  latest  type  of  submarine  the  United  States  is  de- 
ficient. There  are  only  twenty-nine  submarines  in  the  United 
States  naval  service  at  the  present  time  and  only  eighteen 
under  construction. 

The  old  type  of  torpedo  did  not  have  penetrative  power 


272 


SUBMARINES  AND  MINES 


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SUBMARINES  AND  MINES  273 

sufficient  to  sink  the  modern  armor-clad  battlesMp  unless  it 
struck  under  exceptionally  favorable  circumstances.  A  large 
percentage  of  the  destructive  power  was  expended  on  the 
outside  of  the  hull.  Commander  Davis  of  the  United  States 
navy  invented  the  torpedo  that  carries  its  power  undiminished 
into  the  interior  of  the  vessel. 

CAN  CUT  TOEPEDO  NETS 

The  new  torpedoes  are  provided  with  special  steel  cutters 
by  which  they  cut  through  the  strongest  steel  torpedo  net. 
The  torpedo  has  within  it  an  eight-inch  gun,  capable  of  ex- 
ploding a  shell  with  a  muzzle  velocity  of  about  1,000  feet  a 
second.  The  projectile  carries  a  bursting  charge  of  a  high  ex- 
plosive, and  this  charge  is  detonated  by  a  delayed-action  fuse. 
When  the  torpedo  strikes  its  target,  the  gun  is  fired  and  the 
shell  strikes  the  outside  plating  of  the  ship.  Then  the  fuse 
in  the  shell's  base  explodes  the  charge  in  the  shell,  immedi- 
ately after  the  impact. 

With  a  small  fleet  of  these  under-water  fighting  vessels — 
say  of  two  or  three — an  invading  or  blockading  fleet  of  not 
more  than  twenty  men-of-war  can  be  destroyed  within  an  hour 
by  an  otherwise  unprotected  harbor  or  port. 

Germany  has  a  few  of  these  latest  style  submarines,  and 
if  it  can  rush  the  construction  of  the  thirty-one  now  being 
built,  it  will  have  a  flotilla  that  will  protect  its  harbor  towns 
against  invasion. 

QUICK  VENGEANCE  FELL  ON  U-BOAT  COMMANDERS 

Not  a  single  German  U-boat  commander  known  to  have 
committed  atrocities  on  the  sea  after  America  entered  the  war 
succeeded  in  living  more  than  two  months  after  his  barbari- 
ties became  knowTi,  according  to  Colonel  George  A.  Chester, 
formerly  an  engineer  officer  in  the  army.  For  thirteen  months 
he  was  connected  with  the  Bureau  of  Naval  Intelligence. 

Colonel  Chester  states  that  the  speedy  punishment  of  the 
U-boat  commanders  was  due  to  the  work  of  the  Naval  Intelli- 
gence Service. 

"It  is  not  a  secret  any  longer,"  he  said.  ''So  closely  and 
accurately  were  such  German  officers  followed  by  the  Naval 


274  SUBMARINES  AND  MINES 

♦ 

Intelligence  Service  that  their  whereabouts  always  was  known 
in  spite  of  the  use  of  false  names  and  other  devices  contrived 
hj  the  German  Admiralty. 

**  Every  effort  to  hide  their  identity  failed,  so  complete  was 
the  system  and  information  of  the  bureau.  Their  vessels  were 
followed  constantly  by  a  swarm  of  Allied  destroyers  and  their 
destruction  was  a  certainty.  None  of  them  escaped  longer 
than  two  months.'* 

SUBMERGED  MINES HOW  THEY  ARE  LAH)  AND  THEHi  WORKING 

The  sinking  of  the  light  cruiser  Pathfinder  of  the  British 
navy  by  a  German  mine  in  the  North  Sea  early  in  the  war 
called  special  attention  to  the  deadly  character  of  the  mines 
of  the  present  day. 

A  modern  mine-laying  ship  puts  to  sea  with  a  row  of  contact 
mines  on  rails  along  her  side,  ready  for  dropping  into  the  sea. 
The  rails  project  over  the  stem.  The  essential  parts  of  a 
special  type  of  mine  of  recent  design  consist  of  (1)  the  mine 
proper,  comprising  the  explosive  charge  and  detonating 
apparatus  in  a  spherical  case;  (2)  a  square-shaped  anchor 
chamber,  connected  with  the  mine  by  a  length  of  cable;  (3)  a 
plummet-weight  used  in  placing  the  mine  in  position,  connected 
with  the  anchor  chamber  by  a  rope.  Thus  the  mine  appears 
on  the  deck  of  the  mine-lajang  ship  before  being  lowered  over 
the  stem. 

Before  the  mine  goes  over,  a  windlass  inside  the  plummet- 
linker  is  revolved  by  hand  until  the  length  of  cable  between  the 
plummet  and  fhe  anchor-chamber  has  been  reeled  off  equiva- 
lent to  the  depth  below  the  surface  at  which  the  explosive  mine 
is  to  float. 

Then  the  entire  apparatus  is  hove  overboard.  The  plum- 
met and  anchor-chamber  sink,  while  the  spherical  mine  proper 
is  kept  on  the  surface  for  the  moment  by  means  of  a  buoyant 
air-chamber  within.  A  windlass  in  the  anchor-chamber  now 
pays  out  the  cable  between  it  and  the  mine  as  the  anchor- 
chamber  sinks.  On  the  plummet  touching  bottom,  the  tension 
in  the  cable  between  it  and  the  anchor-chamber  is  lessened, 
and  the  windlass  mentioned  stops.  The  anchor-chamber  there- 
upon sinks  to  tlie  bottom,  dragging  down  the  spherical  mine 
until  that  is  at  the  selected  depth  ready  for  its  deadly  work. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

AERO-MILITARY  OPERATIONS 

Aerial  Attacks  on  Cities — Some  of  the  Achievements  of  the 
Airmen  in  the  Great  War — Deeds  of  Heroism  and  Dar- 
ing— Zeppelins  in  Action — Their  Construction  and 
Operation. 

DURING  the  first  ten  weeks  of  the  war  German  airmen 
flew  over  Paris  several  times  and  dropped  bombs  that  did 
some  damage.    Aeroplanes,  not  Zeppelins,  were  nsed  in 
these  attempts  to  terrorize  the  capital  and  other  cities  of 
France. 

The  early  visits  of  Zeppelin  airships  to  Antwerp  have  been 
described  in  a  previous  chapter.  These  were  continued  up  to 
the  time  of  the  fall  of  Antwerp.  While  comparatively  few 
lives  were  lost  through  the  explosion  of  the  bombs  dropped, 
the  recurring  attacks  served  to  keep  the  inhabitants,  if  not  the 
Belgian  troops,  in  a  state  of  constant  excitement  and  fear. 
When  the  city  fell  into  German  hands,  a  similar  condition 
arose  in  England,  where  it  was  feared  that  Antwerp  might  be 
made  the  base  for  German  airship  attacks  on  London  and 
other  cities  of  Great  Britain;  and  all  possible  precautions 
were  taken  against  such  attacks.  The  members  of  the  Royal 
Flying  Corps  were  kept  constantly  on  the  alert;  powerful 
searchlights  swept  the  sky  over  London  and  the  English  coast 
every  night  and  artillery  was  kept  in  readiness  to  repel  an 
aerial  invasion.  Such  was  the  condition  in  the  third  week 
of  October. 

BRITISH  ATTACK  ON  DUSSELDORF 

A  new  type  of  British  aeroplane  was  developed  during  the 
war,  capable  of  rising  from  the  ground  at  a  very  sharp  angle 
and  of  developing  a  speed  of  150  miles  an  hour.    And  in  their 

275 


276  AERO-MILITARY  OPERATIONS 

operations  in  France  and  Belgium  the  British  army  aviators 
proved  themselves  highly  efficient  and  earned  unstinted  praise 
from  Field  Marshal  Sir  John  French,  in  command  of  the 
British  forces  on  the  continent.  One  of  their  notable  exploits 
was  an  attack,  October  8,  on  the  Zeppelin  sheds  at  Dussel- 
dorf  and  Cologne,  in  German  territory.  The  attack  was 
made  by  Lieut.  R.  S.  G.  Marix,  of  the  Naval  Flying  Corps,  in  a 
monoplane,  and  Squadron  Commander  Spencer  Grey,  with 
Lieut.  S.  Y.  Lippe,  in  a  biplane.  Flying  from  Antwerp  at  a 
height  of  5,000  feet,  to  escape  the  almost  continuous  German 
fire,  Lieut.  Marix  succeeded  in  locating  the  Zeppelin  hangars 
at  Dusseldorf.  Then  descending  to  a  height  of  only  1,000  feet 
he  released  two  bombs  when  directly  over  them,  damaging 
both  hangars  and  aircraft.  A  German  bullet  passed  through 
Lieut.  Marix 's  cap  and  the  wings  of  his  aeroplane  were 
pierced  in  a  dozen  places,  but  he  succeeded  in  returning  to 
the  burning  city  of  Antwerp,  which  he  was  ordered  to  leave 
the  same  evening. 

During  the  same  raid  Commander  Spencer  Grey  flew  to 
Cologne.  He  was  unable  to  locate  the  Zeppelin  hangars  but 
dropped  two  bombs  into  the  railway  station,  which  was  badly 
damaged. 

A  night  or  two  later  a  German  Zeppelin  flew  over  Ghent 
and  dropped  a  bomb  near  the  South  station.  On  October  11 
two  German  aviators  dropped  a  score  of  bombs  on  different 
quarters  of  Paris,  killing  three  civilians  and  injuring  four- 
teen others.  The  property  damage,  however,  was  slight  and 
the  effectiveness  of  bomb-dropping  as  a  means  of  destroying 
a  city  or  fortifications  remained  to  be  proved  to  the  military 
mind.  It  was  noted  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  bombs 
dropped  by  German  aviators  failed  to  explode. 

HEKOIC  ACTS  BY  AIBMEN 

Stories  of  heroism  displayed  by  aviators  on  both  sides  of 
the  great  conflict  have  abounded.  One  story  of  the  devotion 
of  German  airmen,  told  to  a  correspondent  by  several  German 
officers,  he  succeeded  in  verifying,  but  was  unable  to  learn 
the  name  of  the  particular  hero  of  the  occurrence.  This  story 
was  as  follows : 

**ln  one  of  the  battles  around  Rheims  it  became  necessary 


AERO-MILITARY.  OPERATIONS  277 

to  blow  up  a  bridge  which  was  about  to  be  crossed  by  advanc- 
ing French  troops  coming  to  relieve  a  beleaguered  fort.  The 
only  way  to  destroy  the  bridge  was  for  an  airman  to  swoop 
down  and  drop  an  exceptionally  powerful  bomb  upon  it. 

"There  were  twenty-four  flyers  with  that  division  of  the 
German  army.  A  volunteer  was  asked  for,  it  being  first 
announced  that  the  required  task  meant  sure  death  to  the  man 
undertaking  it. 

**  Every  one  of  the  twenty-four  stepped  forward  without 
hesitation.  Lots  were  quickly  drawTi.  The  chosen  man 
departed  without  saying  farewell  to  any  one.  Within  five 
minutes  the  bridge  was  in  ruins  and  the  aeroplane  and  its 
heroic  pilot  had  been  blown  to  pieces.  This  incident  was  not 
published  in  the  press  of  Germany,  because  of  the  fear  that  it 
would  cause  terrible  anxiety  to  the  wives  of  all  married  Ger- 
man flyers." 

A  DUEL  HIGH  IN  THE  AHl 

An  aerial  victory  for  a  French  aviator,  fought  thousands 
of  feet  in  the  air  in  the  presence  of  troops  of  both  armies,  was 
reported  by  Lieutenant  de  Laine  of  the  French  aerial  corps 
on  October  10.  The  air  duel  was  one  of  the  most  thrilling  since 
the  war  began.  Lieutenant  de  Laine 's  account  of  the  combat 
was  as  follows : 

**I  had  been  ordered  to  fly  over  the  German  lines  with  an 
observer  who  was  to  drop  pamphlets.  These  pamphlets  con- 
tained the  following  inscription: 

**  *  German  soldiers,  attention!  German  officers  say  that 
the  French  maltreat  prisoners.  This  is  a  lie.  German  prison- 
ers are  as  well  treated  as  unfortunate  adversaries  should  be.  * 

^'We  had  no  sooner  taken  wing  than  the  aeroplane  was 
sighted  by  German  observers  in  captive  balloons  anchored 
about  six  miles  distant.  Immediately  two  Albatross  machines 
rose  from  the  German  camp  and  came  forward. 

*'We  continued  to  advance,  mealiwhile  sending  the  aero- 
plane higher  and  higher  until  the  barograph  showed  we  were 
6,000  feet  above  the  ground.  Our  machine  was  speedier  than 
the  German  aeroplane,  which  was  constructed  of  steel  and 
was  so  heavy  it  could  not  work  up  the  speed  of  the  French 
army  monoplane. 

"We  were  able  to  get  over  the  German  lines  and  my  com- 


278  AERO-MILITARY  OPERATIONS 

panion  began  hurling  thousands  of  the  pamphlets  in  every 
direction.    It  was  like  a  snowstorm. 

*'In  the  meantime,  the  German  artillery  got  their  long 
range  air  guns  in  action  and  were  hurling  volley  after  volley 
against  us.  The  shells  were  of  special  type,  designed  to  create 
violent  air  waves  when  they  burst.  We  were  too  high  to  be 
reached,  but  we  had  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  two  aeroplanes 
which  were  rushing  toward  us. 

**As  they  approached  the  German  artillery  fire  stopped. 
We  were  too  high  to  distinguish  what  was  going  on  beneath 
us,  but  I  could  imagine  the  thousands  of  soldiers  staring  sky- 
ward in  wonder  at  the  strange  spectacle  above  them. 

"^We  kept  swinging  in  wide  circles  over  the  German  lines 
and  I  kept  getting  higher  and  higher  in  order  to  outmaneuver 
the  German  plane  and  to  prevent  it  from  getting  above  us  so 
that  bombs  could  be  thrown  at  us. 

'  ^  The  machines  were  all  equipped  with  rapid-fire  guns,  and 
when  we  got  within  100  yards  of  each  other,  both  sides  opened 
fire.  The  bullets  went  wide.  Finally  we  began  to  swing  back- 
ward, getting  lower  and  lower.  One  of  the  German  machines 
was  thus  lured  over  the  French  lines  and  our  land  artillery 
opened  against  it.  One  of  its  wings  was  shattered  and  it 
dropped,  but  the  other  aeroplane  escaped. ' ' 

HOW  A  GERMAN  AVIATOR  ESCAPED 

How  a  German  aviator  in  Belgium  secured  control  of  a 
falling  aeroplane  after  his  companion  had  been  killed  is 
described  in  a  thrilling  letter  received  by  his  father  in  Berlin 
September  30.    It  reads : 

''Dear  Father:  I  am  lying  here  in  a  beautiful  Belgian 
castle  slowly  recovering  from  wounds  I  thought  would  kill  me. 
On  August  22  I  made  a  flight  mtli  Lieutenant  J.,  a  splendid 
aviator;  established  the  fact  that  the  enemy  was  advancing 
toward  us.  In  the  region  of  Bertrix  we  came  into  heavy  rain- 
clouds  and  had  to  descend  to  3,000  feet.  As  we  came  through 
the  clouds  we  were  seen  and  an  entire  French  division  began 
shooting  at  us. 

"Lieutenant  J.  was  hit  in  the  abdomen.  Our  motor  was 
put  out  of  commission.  We  were  trying  to  volplane  across 
a  forest  in  the  distance  when  suddenly  I  felt  the  machine  give 


AEEO-MILITABY.  OPERATIONS  279 

a  jump.  I  turned  around — as  I  was  sitting  in  front — and 
found  that  a  second  bullet  had  hit  Lieutenant  J.  in  the  head 
and  killed  him. 

*'I  leaned  over  the  back  of  the  seat  and  managed  to  reach 
the  steering  apparatus  and  headed  down.  A  hail  of  shots 
whistled  about  me.  I  felt  something  hit  me  in  the  fore- 
head. Blood  ran  into  my  eyes.  I  was  faint.  But  will  pre- 
vailed and  I  retained  consciousness.  Just  as  we  were  near 
the  ground  a  gust  of  wind  hit  the  plane  and  turned  my  machire 
over.  I  fell  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy  with  my  dead  com- 
panion. The  'red  trousers'  were  coming  from  all  directions 
and  I  drew  my  pistol  and  shot  three  of  them.  I  felt  a  bayonet 
at  my  breast  and  gave  myself  up  for  dead  when  an  officer 
shouted :    *'  'Let  him  live !    He  is  a  brave  soldier.* 

**I  was  taken  to  the  commanding  general  of  the  Seven- 
teenth French  army  corps,  who  questioned  me,  but,  of  course, 
got  no  information.  He  said  I  would  later  be  sent  to  Paris,  but 
as  I  was  weak  from  loss  of  blood  and  seriously  wounded  I  was 
taken  into  their  field  hospital  and  cared  for.  The  officers  were 
very  nice  to  me  and  when  the  French  fell  back  I  took  advantage 
of  the  confusion  to  crawl  under  a  bush,  where  I  remained  until 
our  troops  came.'* 

Many  occurrences  of  a  similarly  thrilling  character  have 
been  related  in  the  camps  of  the  contending  armies.  The 
above  suffice  to  show  the  patriotic  devotion  and  heroism  of  the 
military  forces  of  the  air,  which  for  the  first  time  in  history 
have  been  a  prominent  feature  of  warfare  in  1914. 


2EPPBLINS  IN  1.CTI0IT 

The  real  story  of  the  performances  of  air-craft  in  the 
war  has  not  been  told,  but  there  has  been  enough  to  give  the 
world  a  terrifying  ghmpse  of  these  modern  weapons. 

The  three  attacks  on  Antwerp  by  a  Zeppelin  airship 
brought  into  action  the  long  predicted  onslaught  by  forces 
of  the  air  against  the  ground.  After  one  of  the  great  German 
dirigibles  had  been  brought  down  by  gunfire  because  it  was 
accidentally  guided  too  near  the  earth,  another  returned  over 
the  «iity,  and  the  havoc  wrought  by  this  single  craft  realizes 


280  AEEO-MILITARY  OPERATIONS 

the  horrors  that  would  follow  any  concerted  attack  by  a 
fleet  of  the  aerial  destroyers  if  they  were  launched  against 
a  city. 

The  Zeppelin  is  an  impressive  thing  because  of  its  size, 
cigar-shaped  and  ranging  from  300  to  over  500  feet  in  length, 
driven  at  a  rate  of  40  miles  an  hour  by  four  propellers  and 
carrying  a  huge  car.  It  is  most  valuable  for  use  at  night, 
of  coarse,  but  has  proved  it  is  capable  of  doing  its  deadly 
work  out  of  range  of  ordinary  gunfire  at  day.  Artillery  has 
been  invented  which  can  reach  airships  flying  at  5,000  feet, 
but  there  is  not  much  of  it.  The  half  dozen  German  Zeppelins 
which  have  been  destroyed  by  French  and  Russian  fire  met 
their  fate  chiefly  because  they  got  too  near  the  ground. 

Refugees  from  Belgium  describe  the  method  used  by  Zep- 
pelins in  dropping  bombs.  The  dirigible  is  kept  as  much  as 
possible  out  of  range  of  the  enemy's  guns  while  it  lowers 
a  steel  cage,  attached  to  a  steel  rope,  200  or  300  feet  long. 
The  cage  carries  a  man  who  throws  down  the  bombs.  Be- 
cause of  the  small  size  of  the  cage  and  the  fact  that  it  is  kept 
constantly  in  motion  it  is  difficult  for  heavy  guns  to  hit  it. 
The  great  airship  remains  perfectly  stable  while  the  missiles, 
of  which  there  are  a  variety  for  different  missions,  are  being 
hurled.  All  the  military  Zeppelins  of  Germany  are  armed 
and  there  are  a  large  number  of  unarmed  dirigibles  in  re- 
serve. 

War  is  always  prolific  of  true  tales  that  read  like  fables, 
and  the  late  war  has  added  to  the  former  tales  a  new  sort 
brought  down  from  above,  for  in  this  war,  for  the  first  time, 
men  fought  in  the  air.  One  of  the  most  striking  stories  is  told 
by  Captain  Alan  Bott  of  the  British  Royal  Air  Service.  He 
was  22  years  old  when  he  enlisted  at  the  opening  of  the  war, 
and  his  first  service  was  in  France,  where  his  adventures  were 
those  of  the  average  aviator  and  included  a  toll  of  seven 
enemy  machines  destroyed,  and  the  British  Military  Cross 
for  valor  added  to  his  laurels. 

When  General  AUenby's  expedition  to  Jerusalem  was  be- 
ing arranged  Captain  Bott  was  sent  to  join  the  army  in  Pal- 
estine.    He  was  with  them  until  April,  1918,  when,  having 


AERO-MILITARY  OPERATIONS  281 

chased  an  enemy  macliine  sixty  miles  beyond  the  lines  from 
his  base  at  Jaffa,  he.  was  himself  set  upon  by  two  antagonists 
and  his  machine  sent  spinning  to  the  ground.  He  was  pinned 
down  by  his  engine,  was  discovered  by  some  Arabs,  who  could 
not  quite  decide  whether  to  kill  him  or  sell  him  to  the  Turks. 
They  were  tossing  up  to  settle  the  question  when  a  Turkish 
force  came  along,  drove  the  Arabs  off,  and  made  him  a 
prisoner. 

After  three  weeks  of  convalescing  in  .an  Austrian  hospital, 
75  miles  from  Jaffa,  he  essayed  an  escape  but  failed  because 
of  his  bad  leg,  and  was  transferred  to  Nazareth,  where  he  was 
imprisoned  with  common  criminals,  murderers  and  brigands, 
w4iom  he  described  as  "filthy  brutes."  At  first  he  was  put 
into  an  underground  dungeon.  After  eating  his  daily  bowl  of 
soup  and  loaf  of  bread  and  fighting  cooties  for  a  few  days,  he 
planned  several  means  of  escape,  which  he  said  did  not  appeal 
to  the  Turks  and  finally  feigned  insanity  and  was  sent  to  Con- 
stantinople. But  a  wreck  not  far  from.  Constantinople  gave 
him  an  opportunity  to  escape.  He  met  a  Turkish  officer  in  a 
German  uniform,  paid  him  two  Turkish  pounds  to  exchange 
suits  and  spent  some  time  in  Constantinople  being  saluted 
everywhere  by  Turkish  and  German  soldiers,  and  having  a 
lot  of  fun  listening  to  the  plotting  and  planning  in  the  cafes, 
while  he  avoided  German  officers.  He  learned  that  Turkey 
was  ready  to  make  a  separate  peace,  but  had  no  way  to  get 
the  news  through  the  lines.  The  Allies  appeared  not  to 
realize  Turkey's  readiness  to  quit.  He  finally  stowed  away  on 
a  cargo  steamer  bound  for  Odessa,  but  the  crew  went  Bol- 
shevik en  route  and  the  steamer  rolled  with  her  engine  dead 
for  nearly  three  weeks  before  the  officers  and  crew  compro- 
mised and  continued.  In  Odessa  he  heard  of  Bulgaria's  sur- 
render and  so  stowed  away  on  another  ship  bound  for  the  Bul- 
garian coast,  where  he  landed  in  safety,  finally  reaching  the 
British  lines. 

On  August  10  the  corresposdent  of  the  London  Times  in 
Brussels,  describing  the  fighting  at  Liege,  said  aerial  fleets 
were  used  by  both  Belgians  and  Germans.  The  fighting  in 
midair  was  desultory  but  deadly.  A  huge  Zeppelin  sailed 
over  Liege  during  the  early  fighting,  but  was  pursued  by  a 


282  AERO-MILITARY  OPERATIONS 

Belgian  aeroplanist,  who  risked  and  lost  his  life  in  destroy- 
ing it. 

After  the  destruction  of  this  Zeppelin  the  Germans  con- 
fined their  aerial  activity  to  the  use  of  scouting  aeroplanes, 
several  of  which  were  destroyed  by  shots  from  the  forts. 
Attempts  to  reach  the  aeroplanes  with  shells  were  often  un- 
successful, however,  owing  to  the  inability  to  shoot  high 
enough. 


AVIATION  CAMPS  IN  EUROPE 

In  the  early  days  of  the  great  war  only  an  occasional  flash 
of  news  was  received  about  the  French  and  Russian  aero- 
military  operations  or  those  of  the  German  corps  along 
the  Russian  and  French  frontiers.  It  was  difficult  to  imagine 
that  they  were  idle,  for  the  German-Russian  and  the  French- 
German  frontiers  had  been  the  locations  of  many  military 
aeronautical  camps  or  fortresses.  These  were  described  at 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities  as  follows : 

''Along  the  German  frontier  facing  Russia  are  the  im- 
portant aero  centers  of  Thorn  and  Graudenz,  while  the  near- 
est aero  base  in  Russia  is  at  Riga,  farther  north. 

''Against  German  invasion  there  are  French  centers  at 
Verdun,  Nancy,  Luneville  and  Belfort.  The  most  important 
is  at  Belfort.  Sixty  miles  from  the  Belgian  frontier  and  170 
miles  from  Liege  is  the  great  center  at  Rheims,  with  the 
even  more  important  base  at  Chalons-sur-Marne  only  twenty- 
five  miles  distant. 

"Seventy-five  to  100  miles  is  the  scouting  range  of  the 
military  aeroplanes,  while  the  dirigibles  ^vill  scout  500  to 
1,000  miles  from  the  base,  according  to  the  duration  efficiency. 
The  Zeppelins  might,  taking  some  risk,  travel  even  farther. 
With  this  taken  into  consideration,  the  fact  that  there  are 
only  two  German  aero  centers  on  the  French  frontier — Aix- 
la-Chapelle  and  Metz — is  not  very  significant.  The  range 
of  the  Vosges  occupies  the  territory  where  there  is  no  aero 
center. 

"Back  of  the  mountains,  along  the  Rhone  from  Dusseldorf 
to  Strasbourg,  there  are  a  dozen  aero  stations,  some  of  them 
devoted  to  aeroplanes  and  dirigibles,  others  to  dirigibles  alone. 

"The  latest  data  show  that  Germany  has  sixty  stations. 


AERO-MILITARY.  OPERATIONS 


283 


including  private  dirigible  hangars,  while  France  has  thirty, 
in  most  cases  of  greater  extent  than  those  in  Germany.  Rus- 
sia, eight  months  ago,  had  ten,  but  it  is  believed  that  this 
number  has  been  increased  twofold  since  that  time. 

HOW  GERMAN  EA^PIRE  IS  FORTIFIED  AGAINST  AERIAL  ATTACKS 


CSmZBS  FROM  WHICH  KAISEB  WILLIAM'S  CIBIOrBLS  kVO  AEBOTLAJTE  FLEETS  OPERATE.  ONI.? 
i  THOSE  CITIES  THAT  HAVE  AEEODROIffES  ARE  SHOWIT  ON  THIS  MAP-  SEVERAL  BELOIAN  AND 
,/       STtSNCH  AEBODBOMES  ALSO  ARE  SHOWK. 


"The  two  principal  Belgian  centers  are  at  Brasschaet, 
near  Antwerp,  and  Etterbeck,  near  Brussels.  The  aviators 
operating  in  the  early  engagements  have  undoubtedly  flown 
down  from  Brussels  and  are  in  temporary  camp  at  Liege. 
There  are  probably  not  more  than  four  Belgian  escadrilles, 
or  little  fleets  of  four  machines  each,  on  the  scene,  while 
Germany's  force  is  supposedly  greater.'* 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

Most  Prolonged  Encounter  in  History  Between  Gigantic 
Forces — A  Far-Flung  Battle  Line — Germans  Face 
French  and  British  in  the  Aisne  Valley  atid  Fight  for 
Weeks — Mighty  Annies  Deadlocked  After  a  Desperate 
and  Bloody  Struggle. 

FOR  a  few  days  after  the  tide  of  battle  in  France  turned  in 
favor  of  the  Allies  (September  9),  the  German  forces 
continued  to  retreat  to  the  north,  closely  followed  by  the 
French  and  British  armies  that  had  fought  and  won  the  battle 
of  the  Marne,  as  described  in  a  pre\aous  chapter.  This  north- 
ward movement  was  marked  by  heavy  German  losses  in  men 
and  munitions  of  war,  and  lasted  until  Saturday,  September 
12,  when  the  Germans  were  f  oimd  to  be  occupying  a  position  of 
great  dref  ensive  strength  on  the  River  Aisne,  north  of  Soissons. 
At  that  time  they  held  both  sides  of  the  river  and  had  a  for- 
midable line  of  intrenchments  on  the  hills  to  the  north  of 
eight  road  bridges  and  two  railway  bridges  crossing  the 
Aisne.  Seven  of  the  road  bridges  and  both  the  railway 
bridges  had  been  destroyed. 

The  Allies  gained  some  high  ground  south  of  the  Aisne, 
overlooking  the  Aisne  valley,  east  of  Soissons.  Then  began 
(on  Saturday,  September  12)  an  action  along  the  Aisne  which 
was  destinecl  to  go  down  in  history  as  the  greatest  and  most 
prolonged  battle  of  all  time.  Two  days,  three  days,  a  week, 
two  weeks,  three,  four,  five  weeks  it  lasted,  with  varying  for- 
tune to  the  contending  armies,  but  no  decisive  result.  Ger- 
mans, French  and  British,  literally  by  the  thousand,  fell  under 
the  continuous  hail  of  shrapnel,  the  hurricane  of  machine-giin 
and  rifle  fire,  or  in  the  desperate  bayonet  charges  of  daily 
occurrence,  but  still  the  battle  raged.    Minor  positions  were 

284 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  285 

gained  and  lost,  towns  and  villages  along  the  far-flung  battle 
line  were  occupied  and  evacuated,  countless  deeds  of  heroism 
were  wrought,  to  be  sung  and  celebrated  by  posterity  in  a 
dozen  different  lands — but  the  lines  on  both  sides  held  and 
■victory  refused  to  perch  on  any  banner. 

Modern  scientific  strategy  exhausted  its  utmost  efforts; 
flanking  and  turning  movements  were  planned,  attempted  and 
failed ;  huge  masses  of  men  were  hurled  against  each  other  in 
every  formation  known  to  military  skill ;  myriads  of  lives  and 
millions  of  money  were  sacrificed  in  historic  endeavors  to 
breach  the  enemy's  front — but  ever  the  foeman  held  his 
ground  and  neither  side  could  claim  decided  advantage.  In- 
trenchments  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  before  covered 
the  countryside  for  fifty  miles.  Teuton,  Gaul  and  Anglo- 
Saxon,  Turco  and  Hindu,  literally  ''dug  themselves  in,"  and 
refused  to  budge  an  inch,  though  hell  itself,  in  all  its  horror 
and  its  fury,  was  loosed  against  them. 

And  thus  the  battle  of  the  Aisne — also  aptly  called,  from 
its  extent-  and  ramifications,  the  battle  of  the  Rivers — con- 
tinued through  many  weeks  while  all  the  world  wondered  and 
stood  aghast  at  the  slaughter,  and  the  single  gleam  of  bright- 
ness that  came  out  of  that  maelstrom  of  death  and  misery  was 
the  growing  respect  of  Frenchman,  German  and  Briton  for  the 
individual  and  collective  courage  of  each  other  and  the  death- 
defying  devotion  that  w^as  daily  displayed  by  all. 

FIGHTING  CONTINUOUS  DAY   A.ND  NIGHT 

Beginning  as  an  artillery  duel  in  which  the  field-guns  of 
the  French  and  Germans  were  matched  against  each  other 
from  opposite  heights  as  never  before,  the  battle  of  the 
Aisne  soon  resolved  itself  into  a  series  of  daily  actions  in 
which  every  arm  of  the  opposing  hosts  engaged.  There 
was  little  rest  for  the  troops  day  or  night.  Artillery  fire 
beginning  at  daybreak  and  continuing  till  dusk  might 
break  out  again  at  any  hour  of  the  night,  the  range  of  the 
enemy 's  intrenchments  being  known.  Frequently  the  artillery 
seemed  to  open  fire  in  the  still  watches  of  the  night  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  prevent  the  enemy  in  his  trenches  from 
getting  any  sleep  at  all,  and  many  a  man  was  borne  to  the 
rear  on  both  sides  suffering  from  no  wound,  but  from  utter 


286  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

exhaustion — a  state  of  collapse  whicli  is  often  as  deadly  as 
shrapnel  to  the  soldier  in  the  field. 

For  weeks  at  a  time  the  only  real  rest  for  many  of  the 
troops  engaged  along  the  line  of  battle  came  in  snatches  of 
a  few  hours  when  they  were  temporarily  relieved  by  fresh 
troops  brought  up  from  the  rear,  and  these  in  their  turn  might 
be  soon  exhausted  by  the  continuous  strain  of  keeping  on  the 
alert  to  repel  attacks — or,  as  frequently  happened,  their  ranks 
might  be  decimated,  or  worse,  when  they  were  ordered  to  a 
charge.  Officers  and  men  suifered  alike  from  the  strenuous 
nature  of  the  demands  made  upon  them — and  so  far  as  actual 
casualties  are  concerned  the  battle  w^as  one  in  which  officers 
of  all  ranks,  in  all  the  armies,  suffered  perhaps  more  severely, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  engaged,  than  in  any  previous 
battle.  Hundreds  of  British  officers,  for  example,  were  among 
the  victims  whose  bones  lie  rotting  in  the  valley  of  the  Aisne, 
as  whole  pages  of  their  portraits  in  the  London  journals,  bear- 
ing many  of  the  best  know^n  names  in  the  British  Empire, 
testified  in  mute  protest  against  the  horrors  of  war.  And 
both  Germany  and  France  have  a  similar  "roll  of  honor.*' 


EEPORTS  OF  THE  BATTLE 

AYhile  the  great  battle  of  the  Rivers  was  in  progress  the 
most  connected  stories  of  its  daily  developments  came  through 
the  British  official  news  bureau,  and  these  are  reproduced  in 
part  in  the  pages  that  follow.  The  author  of  these  reports  is 
believed  to  be  Colonel  Swinton,  of  Field  Marshal  French's 
staff,  who  is  generally  credited  with  having  contributed  to  the 
literature  of  the  war  some  of  the  most  interesting  and  enlight- 
ening accounts  of  the  operations  of  the  British  and  French 
armies  in  the  field.  And  these  reports  are  given  here, 
because  of  their  general  character  of  apparent  truth  and  fair- 
ness, and  in  the  absence  of  any  similar  reports  from  the  other 
side. 

OPENING  OF  THE  GREAT  BATTLE 

The  following  report  from  the  British  headquarters  covera 
the  period  when  the  Allies'  forward  movement  was  halted 
along  the  Aisne  and  also  describes  the  terrain,  or  country,  in 
which  the  subsequent  fighting  occurred : 

From  Thursday,  September  10,  the  British  army  made 


it 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 


287 


In  the  above  view  the  Rivers  Marne,  Ourcq,  Aisne,  Oise,  and  Meuse  are  clearly 
shown,  exaggerated  in  size  for  convenience  of  reference.  The  position  of  the  Allies 
September  20,  1914.  is  shown  by  a  black  dotted  line  running  from  between  Amiens 
and  Peronne  to  Verdun  and  Nancy.  The  German  front  is  indicated  by  the  shaded 
sections,  which  also  show  the  German  lines  of  communication  or  retreat,  numbered 
from  1  to  7.  At  this  time  the  Allies  were  pushing  north  to  Arras,  endeavoriag  to 
tura  the  German  right  flank  in  command  of  General  von  Kluck. 


288  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

steady  progress  in  its  endeavor  to  drive  back  the  enemy  in 
co-operation  with  the  French.  The  country  across  which  it 
had  to  force  its  way,  and  will  have  to  continue  to  do  so,  is 
undulating  and  covered  with  patches  of  thick  wood. 

''Within  the  area  which  faced  the  British  before  the  ad- 
vance commenced,  right  up  to  Laon,  the  chief  feature  of 
tactical  importance  is  the  fact  that  there  are  six  rivers  run- 
ning across  the  direction  of  the  advance,  at  all  of  which  it  was 
possible  that  the  Germans  might  make  resistance.  These 
rivers  are,  in  order  from  the  south,  the  Marne,  Ourcq,  Vesle, 
Aisne,  Ailette  and  Oise. 

"The  Germans  held  the  line  of  the  Marne,  which  was 
crossed  by  our  forces  on  September  9,  as  a  purely  rearguard 
operation.  Our  passage  of  the  Ourcq  was  not  contested.  The 
Vesle  was  only  lightly  held,  while  resistance  along  the  Aisne, 
both  against  the  French  and  the  British,  has  been  and  still  is 
of  a  determined  character. 

''On  Friday,  September  11,  but  little  opposition  was  met 
with  along  any  part  of  our  front,  and  the  direction  of  the 
advance  was,  for  the  purpose  of  co-operating  with  our  allies, 
turned  slightly  to  the  northeast.  The  day  was  spent  in  rush- 
ing forward  and  gathering  in  various  hostile  detachments. 
By  nightfall  our  forces  had  reached  a  line  north  of  the  Ourcq, 
extending  from  Oulchy-le-Chateau  to  Longpont. 

"On  this  day  there  was  also  a  general  advance  of  the 
French  along  their  whole  line,  which  ended  in  a  substantial 
success,  in  one  portion  of  the  field  Duke  Albrecht  of  Wuert- 
temburg's  army  being  driven  back  across  the  Saulx,  and  else- 
where the  whole  of  the  artillery  of  a  German  corps  being 
captured.     Several  German  colors  also  were  taken. 

' '  It  was  only  on  this  day  that  the  full  extent  of  the  victory 
gained  by  the  Allies  on  September  8  [at  the  Marne]  was 
appreciated  by  them,  and  the  moral  effect  of  this  success  has 
bfeen  enormous.  An  order  dated  September  6  and  7,  issued 
by  the  commander  of  the  German  Seventh  Corps,  was  picked 
up.  It  stated  that  the  great  object  of  the  war  was  about  to  be 
attained,  since  the  French  were  going  to  accept  battle,  and 
that  upon  the  result  of  this  battle  would  depend  the  issue  of 
the  war  and  the  honor  of  the  German  armies. 

"On  Saturday,  the  12th,  the  enemy  were  found  to  be 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  289 

occupying  a  very  formidable  position  opposite  us  on  the  nortH 
of  the  line  at  Soissons.  Working  from  the  west  to  the  east, 
our  Third  Army  Corps  gained  some  high  ground  south  of  the 
Aisne  overlooking  the  Aisne  valley,  to  the  east  of  Soissons. 
Here  a  long-range  artillery  duel  between  our  guns  and  those 
of  the  French  on  our  left  and  the  enemy's  artillery  on  the 
hills  continued  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  did 
not  cease  until  nearly  midnight.  The  enemy  had  a  very  large 
number  of  heavy  howitzers  in  well-concealed  positions. 

*'At  Braisne  the  First  cavalry  division  met  with  consid- 
erable opposition  from  infantry  and  machine-guns  holding  the 
town  and  guarding  the  bridge.  With  the  aid  of  some  of  our 
infantry  it  gained  possession  of  the  town  about  midday,  driv- 
ing the  enemy  to  the  north.  Some  hundred  prisoners  were 
captured  around  Braisne,  where  the  Germans  had  thrown  a 
large  amount  of  field-gun  ammunition  into  the  river,  where 
it  was  visible  under  two  feet  of  water. 

FATEFUL  ENCOUNTER  BEGINS 

*'0n  our  right  the  French  reached  the  line  of  the  Rivei: 
Vesle.  On  this  day  began  an  action  along  the  Aisne  which  is 
not  yet  finished,  and  which  may  be  merely  of  a  rearguard 
nature  on  a  large  scale,  or  may  be  the  commencement  of  a 
battle  of  a  more  serious  nature. 

*'It  rained  heavily  on  Saturday  afternoon  and  all  through 
the  night,  which  severely  handicapped  transport. 

"On  Sunday,  the  13th,  extremely  strong  resistance  was 
encountered  by  the  whole  of  our  front,  which  was  some  fifteen 
miles  in  length.  The  action  still  consisted  for  the  most  part 
of  a  long-range  gunfire,  that  of  the  Germans  being  to  a  great 
extent  from  their  heavy  howitzers,  which  were  firing  from 
cleverly  concealed  positions.  Some  of  the  actual  crossings 
of  the  Aisne  were  guarded  by  strong  detachments  of  infantry 
mth  machine-guns. 

**By  nightfall  portions  of  all  our  three  army  corps  were 
across  the  river,  the  cavalry  returning  to  the  south  side.  By 
early  next  morning,  three  pontoon  bridges  had  been  built,  and 
our  troops  also  managed  to  get  across  the  river  by  means  of 
the  bridge  carrying  the  canal  over  the  river. 

*'0n  our  left  the  French  pressed  on,  but  were  prevented 
by  artillery  fire  from  building  a  pontoon  bridge  at  Soissons. 


290  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

A  large  number  of  infantry,  however,  crossed  in  single  file  tlie 
top  girder  of  the  railway  bridge  left  standing. 

* '  During  the  last  three  or  four  days  many  isolated  parties 
of  Germans  have  been  discovered  hiding  in  the  numerous 
woods  a  long  way  behind  our  line.  As  a  rule  they  seemed 
glad  to  surrender,  and  the  condition  of  some  of  them  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  incident : 

"An  officer  proceeding  along  the  road  in  charge  of  a  num- 
ber of  led  horses  received  information  that  there  were  some 
of  the  enemy  in  the  neighborhood.  He  gave  the  order  to 
charge,  whereupon  three  German  officers  and  106  men  surren- 
dered. 

EHEIMS  OCCUPIED  BY  GERMANS 

**Eheims  was  occupied  by  the  enemy  on  September  3.  It 
was  reoccupied  by  the  French  after  considerable  fighting  on 
September  13. 

"On  the  12th,  a  proclamation,  a  copy  of  which  is  in  the 
possession  of  the  British  army,  was  posted  all  over  the  town. 
A  literal  translation  of  this  poster  follows : 

"  *  Proclamation — In  the  event  of  an  action  being  fought 
early  today  or  in  the  immediate  future  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Rheims,  the  inhabitants  are  warned  that  they  must  remain 
absolutely  calm  and  must  in  no  way  try  to  take  part  in  the 
fighting.  They  must  not  attempt  to  attack  either  isolated 
soldiers  or  detachments  of  the  German  army.  The  erection 
of  barricades,  the  taking  up  of  pa\ing  stones  in  the  streets  in 
a  way  to  hinder  the  movement  of  troops,  or,  in  a  word,  any 
action  that  may  embarrass  the  German  army,  is  formally 
forbidden. 

"  'With  an  idea  to  securing  adequately  the  safety  of  the 
troops  and  to  instill  calm  into  the  population  of  Rheims,  the 
persons  named  below  have  been  seized  as  hostages  by  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  German  army.  These  hostages  will  be 
hanged  at  the  slightest  attempt  at  disorder.  Also,  the  town 
will  be  totally  or  partially  burned  and  the  inhabitants  will  be 
hanged  for  any  infraction  of  the  above. 

"  'By  order  of  the  German  authorities. 

(Signed)         "  'The  Mayor. [ 

"Here  followed  the  names  of  eighty-one  of  the  principal 


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j4&ore — An  American  supply  train  in  the  town  of  Esnes,  seen  from  the  cemetery. 
In  the  background  Hill  300.  wliich  was  held  by  the  Germans  .since  earl.v  in  the  war 
and  has  been  the  scene  of  many  attacks  and  great  slaughter.  Note  the  utter  ruin  of 
the  town  a.s  it  was  found  by  the  .\mericans. 

liilov — An  Ameiican  i)atr()l  anixins'  at  the  ruins  of  the  house  used  as  an  observa- 
tory by  the  German  Crown  Prince  duiin^r  the  famous  battle  of  Verdun.  It  is  said  that 
he  watched  the  operations  in  comfort  while  seated  before  the  eyepiece  of  a  periscope 
carried  up  through  the  roof.    (U.  S.  Official  Photos.) 


Above — American  automatic  rifle  team  malting  it  liot  for  tlie  Huns.  Note  tlie  pro- 
tective barricade  of  ammunition  boxes  and  sandbags. 

Below — How  hiand  grenades  are  thrown  at  the  enemy  in  the  trenches.  American 
soldiers  soon  became  expert  at  this  superlative  kind  of  baseball.   (U.  S.  Official  Photos.) 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  291 


inhabitants  of  Rheims,  with  their  addresses,  including  four 
priests,  and  ending  with  the  words,  'And  some  others.' 


n 


HOW  THE  BATTLE  DEVELOPED 

The  following  descriptive  report  from  Field  Marshal  Sir 
John  French's  headquarters  was  issued  September  22: 

''At  the  date  of  the  last  narrative,  September  14,  the  Ger- 
mans were  making  a  determined  resistance  along  the  River 
Aisne.  The  opposition  has  proved  to  be  more  serious  than 
was  anticipated. 

' '  The  action  now  being  fought  by  the  Germans  along  their 
line  is  naturally  on  a  scale  which,  as  to  extent  of  ground  cov- 
ered and  duration  of  resistance,  makes  it  undistingiiishable  in 
its  progress  from  what  is  known  as  a  'pitched  battle.' 

"So  far  as  we  are  concerned,  the  action  still  being  con- 
tested is  the  battle  of  the  Aisne.  The  foe  we  are  fighting  is 
just  across  that  river,  along  the  whole  of  our  front  to  the  east 
and  west.  The  struggle  is  not  confined  to  the  valley  of  that 
river,  thsugh  it  will  probably  bear  its  name. 

' '  On  Monday,  the  14th,  those  of  our  troops  which  had  on 
the  previous  day  crossed  the  Aisne,  after  driving  in  the  Ger- 
man rearguards  on  that  evening,  found  portions  of  the 
enemy's  forces  in  prepared  defensive  positions  on  the  right 
bank  and  could  do  little  more  than  secure  a  footing  north  of 
the  river.  This,  however,  they  maintained  in  spite  of  two 
counter-attacks  delivered  at  dusk  and  10  p.  m.,  in  which  the 
fighting  was  severe. 

"During  the  14th  strong  reinforcements  of  our  troops 
were  passed  to  the  north  bank,  the  troops  crossing  by  ferry, 
by  pontoon  bridges,  and  by  the  remains  of  permanent  bridges. 
Close  co-operation  with  the  French  forces  was  maintained 
and  the  general  progress  made  was  good,  although  the  opposi- 
tion was  vigorous  and  the  state  of  the  roads,  after  the  heavy 
rain,  made  movements  slow. 

FIEST   CORPS  MAKES  CAPTURE 

"One  division  alone  failed  to  secure  the  groiinS  it  expected 

to.     The  First  Army  Corps,  after  repulsing  repeated  attacks, 

captured  600  prisoners  and  twelve  guns.     The  cavalry  also 

took  a  number  of  prisoners. 

-^  "There  was  a  hea^T  rain  throughout  the  night  of  Sep- 


292  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

tember  14-15  and  during  the  15th  the  situation  of  the  British 
forces  underwent  no  essential  change.  But  it  became  more 
and  more  evident  that  the  defensive  preparations  made  by 
the  enemy  were  more  extensive  than  was  at  first  apparent. 
The  Germans  bombarded  our  hues  nearly  all  day,  using  heavy 
guns  brought,  no  doubt,  from  before  Maubeuge  as  well  as 
those  with  the  corps. 

**  All  the  German  counter-attacks,  however,  failed,  although 
in  some  places  they  were  repeated  six  times.  One  made  on 
the  Fourth  Guards  Brigade  was  repulsed  with  heavy 
slaughter. 

"Further  counter-attack\^  made  during  the  night  were 
beaten  off.  Rain  came  on  towards  evening  and  continued 
intermittently  until  9  a.  m.,  on  the  16th.  Besides  adding  to 
the  discomfort  of  the  soldiers  holding  the  line,  the  wet  weather 
to  some  extent  hampered  the  motor  transport  service,  which 
was  also  hindered  by  broken  bridges. 

'*0n  Wednesday,  the  16th,  there  was  little  change  in  the 
situation  opposite  the  British ;  the  efforts  made  by  the  enemy 
were  less  active  than  on  the  previous  day,  though  their  bom- 
bardment continued  throughout  the  morning  and  evening. 

**0n  Thursday,  the  17th,  the  situation  still  remained  un- 
changed in  its  essentials.  The  German  heavy  artillery  fire 
was  more  active  than  on  the  previous  day.  The  only  infantry 
attacks  made  by  the  enemy  were  on  the  extreme  right  of  our 
position,  and,  as  had  happened  before,  they  were  repulsed 
with  heavy  loss,  chiefly  on  this  occasion  by  our  field  artillery. 

NATUEE  OF  THE  FIGHTING 

* '  In  order  to  convey  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  fighting 
it  may  be  said  that  along  the  greater  part  of  our  front  the 
Germans  have  been  driven  back  from  the  forward  slopes  on 
the  north  of  the  river.  Their  infantry  are  holding  strong 
lines  of  trenches  amongst  and  along  the  edges  of  the  numerous 
woods  which  crouTi  the  slopes.  These  trenches  are  elaborately 
constructed  and  cleverly  concealed.  In  many  places  there  are 
wire  entanglements  and  lengths  of  rabbit  fencing. 

* '  Both  woods  and  open  are  carefully  aligned,  so  that  they 
can  be  swept  by  rifle  fire  and  machine-guns,  which  are  invisible 
from  our  side  of  the  valley.  The  ground  in  front  of  the  infan- 
try is  also,  as  a  rule,  under  cross  fire  from  the  field  artillery 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  293 

placed  on  neighboring  heights,  and  under  high  angle  fire 
from  pieces  placed  well  back  behind  the  woods  on  top  of  the 
plateau. 

'*  A  feature  of  this  action,  as  of  the  previous  fighting,  is  the 
use  by  the  enemy  of  numerous  heavy  howitzers,  with  which 
they  are  able  to  direct  long  range  fire  all  over  the  valley  and 
right  across  it  Dpon  these  they  evidently  place  great  reh- 
ance. 

''Where  our  men  are  holding  the  forward  edges  of  the 
high  ground  on  the  north  side  they  are  now  strongly  in- 
trenched. They  are  well  fed,  and  in  spite  of  the  wet  weather 
of  the  last  week  are  cheerful  and  confident 

HEAVY  BOMBAEDMENT  BY  BOTH  SIDES 

"The  bombardment  by  both  sides  has  been  heavy,  and  on 
Sunday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday  was  practically  continuous. 
Nevertheless,  in  spire  of  the  general  din  caused  by  the  reports 
of  the  immense  number  of  heavy  guns  in  action  along  our  front 
on  Wednesday,  the  arrival  of  the  French  force  acting  against 
the  German  right  flank  was  at  once  announced  on  the  east  of 
our  front  some  miles  away  by  the  continuous  roar  of  their 
quick-firing  artillery,  with  which  the  attack  was  opened. 

''So  far  as  the  British  are  concerned,  the  greater  part  of 
this  week  has  been  passed  in  bombardment,  in  gaining  ground 
by  degrees,  and  in  beating  back  severe  counter-attacks  with 
heavy  slaughter.  Our  casualties  have  been  severe,  but  it  is 
probable  that  those  of  the  enemy  are  heavier. 

"The  rain  has  caused  a  great  drop  in  the  temperature 
and  there  is  more  than  a  distant  feeling  of  autumn  in  the  air. 

"On  our  right  and  left  the  French  have  been  fighting 
fiercely  and  have  been  gradually  gaining  ground.  One  village 
already  has  been  captured  and  recaptured  twice  by  each  side 
and  at  the  time  of  writing  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  Ger- 
mans. 

"The  fighting  has  been  at  close  quarters  and  of  the  most 
desperate  nature,  and  the  streets  of  the  village  are  filled  with 
dead  of  both  sides. 

CHEEKING  MESSAGE  TO  THE  FRENCH 

"As  an  example  of  the  spirit  which  is  inspiring  our  allies 
the  following  translation  of  an  Ordre  du  Jour  (order  of  the 


294  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

day),  published  on  September  9,  after  the  battle  of  Mont- 
mirail,  by  the  commander  of  the  French  Fifth  Army,  is  given : 

*'  'Soldiers:  Upon  the  memorable  fields  of  Montmirail, 
of  Vauchamps,  of  Champaubert,  which  a  century  ago  wit- 
nessed the  victories  of  our  ancestors  over  Bliicher's  Prussians, 
your  vigorous  offensive  has  triumphed  over  the  resistance  of 
the  Germans.  Held  on  his  flanks,  his  center  broken,  the  enemy 
now  is  retreating  towards  the  east  and  north  by  forced 
marches.  The  most  renowned  army  corps  of  old  Prussia,  the 
contingents  of  Westphaha,  of  Hanover,  of  Brandenburg,  have 
retired  in  haste  before  you. 

•*  'This  first  success  is  no  more  than  the  prelude.  The 
enemy  is  shaken  but  not  yet  decisively  beaten.  You  have  still 
to  undergo  severe  hardships,  to  make  long  marches,  to  fight 
hard  battles.  May  the  image  of  our  country,  soiled  by  bar- 
barians, always  remain  before  your  eyes !  Never  was  it  more 
necessary  to  sacrifice  all  for  her. 

**  'Saluting  the  heroes  who  have  fallen  in  the  fighting  of 
the  last  few  days,  my  thoughts  turn  toward  you,  the  victors  in 
the  last  battle.    Forward,  soldiers,  for  France ! ' 

LETTER  FEOM  A  GERMAN"  SOLDIER 

"So  many  letters  and  statements  of  our  wounded  soldiers 
have  been  published  in  our  newspapers  that  the  following 
epistle  from  a  German  soldier  of  the  Seventy -fourth  Infantry 
regiment.  Tenth  Corps,  to  his  wife  also  may  be  of  interest : 

**  'My  Dear  Wife:  I  have  just  been  living  through  days 
that  defy  imagination.  I  should  never  have  thought  that  men 
could  stand  it.  Not  a  second  has  passed  but  my  hfe  has  been 
in  danger,  and  yet  not  a  hair  of  my  head  has  been  hurt. 

"  'It  was  horrible;  it  was  ghastly,  but  I  have  been  saved 
for  you  and  for  our  happiness,  and  I  take  heart  again,  although 
I  am  still  terribly  imnerved.  God  grant  that  I  may  see  you 
again  soon  and  that  this  horror  may  soon  be  over. 

"  *None  of  us  can  do  any  more;  human  strength  is  at  an 
end.  I  will  try  to  tell  you  about  it.  On  September  5  the 
enemy  were  reported  to  be  taking  up  a  position  near  St.  Prix, 
southeast  of  Paris.  The  Tenth  Corps,  which  had  made  an 
astonishingly  rapid  advance  of  course,  was  attacked  on  Sun- 
day. 

"  'Steep  slopes  led  up  to  the  heights,  which  were  held  in 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  295 

considerable  force.  With  our  weak  detachments  of  the  Sev- 
enty-fourth and  Ninety-first  regiments  we  reached  the  crest 
and  came  under  a  terrible  artillery  fire  that  mowed  us  down. 
However,  we  entered  St.  Prix.  Hardly  had  we  done  so  than 
we  were  met  with  shell  fire  and  a  violent  fusillade  from  the 
enemy's  infantry.  Our  colonel  was  badly  wounded — he  is  the 
third  we  have  had.  Fourteen  men  were  killed  around  me. 
We  got  away  in  a  lull  without  my  being  hit. 

' '  '  The  7th,  8th,  and  9th  of  September  we  were  constantly 
under  shell  and  shrapnel  fire  and  suffered  terrible  losses.  I 
was  in  a  house  which  was  hit  several  times.  The  fear  of 
death,  of  agony,  which  is  in  every  man's  heart,  and  naturally 
so,  is  a  terrible  feeling.  How  often  I  have  thought  of  you, 
my  darhng,  and  what  I  suffered  in  that  terrifying  battle 
which  extended  along  a  front  of  many  miles  near  Montmirail, 
you  cannot  possibly  imagine. 

'*  'Our  heavy  artillery  was  being  used  for  the  siege  of 
Maubeuge.  We  wanted  it  badly,  as  the  enemy  had  theirs  in 
force  and  kept  up  a  furious  bombardment.  For  four  days  I 
was  under  artillery  fire.  It  was  like  hell,  but  a  thousand  times 
worse. 

' '  '  On  the  night  of  the  9th  the  order  was  given  to  retreat, 
as  it  would  have  been  madness  to  attempt  to  hold  our  position 
with  our  few  men,  and  we  should  have  risked  a  terrible  defeat 
the  next  day.  The  first  and  third  armies  had  not  been  able 
to  attack  with  us,  as  we  had  advanced  too  rapidly.  Our  morale 
was  absolutely  broken;  in  spite  of  unheard-of  sacrifices  we 
had  achieved  nothing. 

* '  '  I  cannot  understand  how  our  army,  after  fighting  three 
great  battles  and  being  terribly  weakened,  was  sent  against 
a  position  which  the  enemy  had  prepared  for  three  weeks,  but, 
naturally,  I  know  nothing  of  the  intentions  of  our  chiefs ;  they 
say  nothing  has  been  lost. 

**  'In  a  word,  we  retired  towards  Oormontreuil  and  Eheims 
by  forced  marches  by  day  and  night.  We  hear  that  three 
armies  are  going  to  get  into  line,  intrench  and  rest,  and  then 
start  afresh  our  victorious  march  on  Paris.  It  was  not  a 
defeat,  only  a  strategic  retreat.  I  have  confidence  in  our 
chiefs  that  everything  will  be  successful. 

**  'Our  first  battalion,  which  has  fought  with  unparalleled 


296  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

bravery,  is  reduced  from  1,200  to  194  men.    These  numbers 
speak  for  themselves.'  " 

EVENTS  FKOM  SEPTEMBEE  21  TO  24 

The  next  report  from  the  official  chronicler  at  the  front, 
dated  September  24,  was  in  part  as  follows : 

"The  enemy  is  still  maintaining  himself  along  the  whole 
front,  and  in  order  to  do  so  is  throwing  into  the  fight  detach- 
ments composed  of  units  from  the  different  formations,  the 
active  army,  reserve,  and  landwehr,  as  is  shown  by  the  uni- 
forms of  prisoners  recently  captured. 

"Our  progress,  although  slow. on  account  of  the  strength 
of  the  defensive  positions  against  which  we  are  pressing,  has 
in  certain  directions  been  continuous,  but  the  present  battle 
may  well  last  for  some  days  more  before  a  decision  is  reached, 
since  it  now  approximates  nearly  to  siege  warfare. 

"The  nature  of  the  general  situation  after  the  operations 
of  the  18th,  19th,  and  20th,  cannot  better  be  summarized  than 
as  expressed  recently  by  a  neighboring  French  commander  to 
his  corps:  'Having  repulsed  repeated  and  violent  counter- 
attacks made  by  the  enemy,  we  have  a  feeling  that  we  have 
been  victorious.' 

' '  So  far  as  the  British  are  concerned,  the  course  of  events 
during  these  three  days  can  be  described  in  a  few  words.  Dur- 
ing Friday,  the  18th,  artillery  fire  was  kept  up  intermittently 
by  both  sides  during  daylight.  At  night  the  Germans  counter- 
attacked certain  portions  of  our  line,  supporting  the  advance 
of  their  infantry  as  always  by  a  heavy  bombardment.  But 
the  strokes  were  not  delivered  with  great  vigor  and  ceased 
about  2  a.  m.  During  the  day's  fighting  an  aircraft  gun  of 
the  Third  Army  Corps  succeeded  in  bringing  down  a  German 
aeroplane. 

ARTILLERY  FIRE  BECOMES  MONOTONOUS 

**0n  Saturday,  the  19th,  the  bombardment  was  resumed 
by  the  Germans  at  an  early  hour  and  continued  intermittently 
under  reply  from  our  guns,  which  is  a  matter  of  normal 
routine  rather  than  an  event. 

"Another  hostile  aeroplane  was  brought  down  by  us,  and 
one  of  our  aviators  succeeded  in  dropping  several  bombs  over 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  297 

the  German  line,  one  incendiary  bomb  falling  with  considerable 
effect  on  a  transport  park  near  LaFere. 

*'A  buried  store  of  the  enemy's  munitions  of  war  also  was 
found  not  far  from  the  Aisne,  ten  wagonloads  of  live  shells 
and  two  wagons  of  cable  being  dug  up.  Traces  were  discov- 
ered of  large  quantities  of  stores  having  been  burned — all 
tending  to  show  that  as  far  back  as  the  Aisne  the  German 
retirement  was  hurried. 

"On  Sunday,  the  20th,  nothing  of  importance  occurred 
until  the  afternoon,  when  there  was  an  interval  of  feeble  sun- 
shine, which  was  hardly  powerful  enough  to  warm  the  soaking 
troops.  The  Germans  took  advantage  of  this  brief  spell  of 
fine  weather  to  make  several  attacks  against  different  points. 
These  were  all  repulsed  with  loss  to  the  enemy,  but  the  casual- 
ties incurred  by  us  were  by  no  means  light. 

''The  offensive  against  one  or  two  points  was  renewed  at 
dusk,  with  no  greater  success.  The  brunt  of  the  resistance 
naturally  has  fallen  on  the  infantry.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  drenched  to  the  skin  for  some  days  and  their 
trenches  have  been  deep  in  mud  and  water,  and  in  spite  of  the 
incessant  night  alarms  and  the  almost  continuous  bombard- 
ment to  which  they  have  been  subjected,  they  have  on  every 
occasion  been  ready  for  the  enemy 's  infantry  when  the  latter 
attempted  to  assault.  Indeed,  the  sight  of  the  troops  coming 
up  has  been  a  positive  relief  after  long,  trying  hours  of  inac- 
tion under  shell  fire. 

OBJECT  OF   GERMAN"  ATTACKS 

''The  object  of  the  great  proportion  of  artillery  the  Ger- 
mans employ  is  to  beat  down  the  resistance  of  their  enemy  by 
concentrated  and  prolonged  fire — to  shatter  their  nerve  with 
high  explosives  before  the  infantry  attack  is  launched.  They 
seem  to  have  rehed  on  doing  this  with  us,  but  they  have  not 
done  so,  though  it  has  taken  them  several  costly  experiments 
to  discover  this  fact. 

* '  From  statements  of  prisoners,  it  appears  that  they  have 
been  greatly  disappointed  by  the  moral  effect  produced  by 
their  hea^^  guns,  which,  despite  the  actual  losses  inflicted, 
has  not  been  at  all  commensurate  with  the  colossal  expendi- 
ture of  ammunition  which  has  really  been  wasted. 

"By  this  it  is  not  implied  that  their  artillery  fire  is  not 


298  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

good.  It  is  more  than  good — it  is  excellent.  But  the  Britisli 
soldier  is  a  difficult  person  to  impress  or  depress,  even  by 
immense  shells  filled  with  a  high  explosive,  which  detonate 
with  terrific  violence  and  form  craters  large  enough  to  act  as 
graves  for  five  horses. 

* '  The  German  howitzer  shells  are  from  eight  to  nine  inches 
in  calibre,  and  on  impact  they  send  up  columns  of  greasy  black 
smoke.  On  account  of  this  they  are  irreverently  dubbed  '  coal 
boxes,'  'Black  Marias,'  or  'Jack  Johnsons'  by  the  soldiers. 

''Men  who  take  things  in  this  spirit  are,  it  seems,  likely  to 
throw  out  the  calculations  based  on  loss  of  morale  so  care- 
fully framed  by  the  German  military  philosophers. 

' '  The  German  losses  in  officers  are  stated  by  our  prisoners 
to  have  been  especially  severe.  A  brigade  is  stated  to  be 
commanded  by  a  major;  some  companies  of  foot  guards  by 
one-year  volunteers ;  while  after  the  battle  of  Montmirail  one 
regiment  lost  fifty-five  out  of  sixty  officers. 

LETTER  FOUND  ON  GERMAN  OFFICER 

"The  following  letter,  which  refers  to  the  fighting  on  the 
Aisne  and  was  found  on  a  German  officer  of  the  Seventh 
Reserve  Corps,  has  been  printed  and  circulated  to  the  troops : 

' '  '  Cerny,  South  of  Paris,  Sept.  17. — My  Dear  Parents : — 
Our  corps  has  the  task  of  holding  the  heights  south  of  Cerny 
in  all  circumstances  till  the  Fourteenth  Corps  on  our  left 
flank  can  grip  the  enemy's  flank.  On  our  right  are  other 
corps.  We  are  fighting  with  the  English  guards,  Highlanders 
and  Zouaves.  The  losses  on  both  sides  have  been  enormous. 
For  the  most  part  this  is  due  to  the  too-brilliant  French 
artillery. 

"  'The  English  are  marvelously  trained  in  making  use  of 
ground.  One  never  sees  them  and  one  is  constantly  under  fire. 
The  French  airmen  perform  wonderful  feats.  We  cannot  get 
rid  of  them.  As  soon  as  an  airman  has  flown  over  us,  ten 
minutes  later  we  get  shrapnel  fire  in  our  position.  We  have 
little  artillery  in  our  corps ;  without  it  we  cannot  get  forward. 

"  'Three  days  ago  our  division  took  possession  of  these 
heights  and  dug  itself  in.  Two  days  ago,  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  were  attacked  by  immensely  superior  English  forces — 
one  brigade  and  two  battalions — and  were  turned  out  of  our 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  299 

positions.  The  fellows  took  five  guns  from  us.  It  was  a  tre- 
mendous hand-to-hand  fight, 

**  'How  I  escaped  myself  I  am  not  clear.  I  then  had  to 
bring  up  support  on  foot.  My  horse  was  wounded  and  the 
others  were  too  far  in  the  rear.  Then  came  up  the  Guard 
Jager  Battalion,  Fourth  Jager,  Sixth  Regiment,  Reserve  Regi- 
ment Thirteen,  and  Landwehr  Regiments  Thirteen  and  Six- 
teen, and,  with  the  help  of  the  artillery,  we  drove  the  fellows 
out  of  the  position  again.  Our  machine-guns  did  excellent 
work;  the  English  fell  in  heaps. 

**  *In  our  battahon  three  iron  crosses  have  been  given.  Let 
us  hope  that  we  shall  be  the  lucky  ones  the  next  time. 

*'  *  During  the  first  two  days  of  the  battle  I  had  only  one 
piece  of  bread  and  no  water.  I  spent  the  night  in  the  rain 
without  my  greatcoat.  The  rest  of  my  kit  was  on  the  horses, 
which  have  been  left  miles  behind  with  the  baggage  and  which 
cannot  come  up  into  the  battle  because  as  soon  as  you  put  your 
nose  up  from  behind  cover  the  bullets  whistle. 

* '  '  War  is  terrible !  We  are  all  hoping  that  a  decisive  battle 
will  end  the  war.  Our  troops  already  have  got  round  Paris. 
If  we  beat  the  English  the  French  resistance  will  soon  be 
broken.  Russia  will  be  very  quickly  dealt  with ;  of  this  there 
is  no  doubt. 

*'  *We  have  received  splendid  help  from  the  Austrian 
heavy  artillery  at  Maubeuge.  They  bombarded  Fort  Cerfon- 
taine  in  such  a  way  that  there  was  not  ten  meters  of  parapet 
which  did  not  show  enormous  craters  made  by  the  shells. 
The  armored  turrets  were  found  upside  down. 

"  *  Yesterday  evening  about  6,  in  the  valley  in  which  our 
reserves  stood,  there  was  such  a  terrible  cannonade  that  we 
saw  nothing  of  the  sky  but  a  cloud  of  smoke.  We  had  few 
casualties. ' 

TELEPHONE  AN"  AID  TO  SPIES 

** Espionage  is  carried  on  by  the  enemy  to  a  considerable 
extent.  Recently  the  suspicions  of  Some  of  the  French  troops 
were  aroused  by  coming  across  a  farm  from  which  the  horses 
had  been  removed.  After  some  search  they  discovered  a  tele- 
phone which  was  connected  by  an  underground  cable  with  the 
German  lines,  and  the  o^vner  of  the  farm  paid  the  i)enalty  in 
the  usual  way  in  war  for  his  treachery. 


300  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

''After  some  cases  of  village  fighting,  which  occurred  ear- 
lier in  the  war,  it  was  reported  by  some  of  our  officers  that  the 
Oermans  had  attempted  to  approach  to  close  quarters  by  forc- 
ing prisoners  to  march  in  front  of  them.  The  Germans  have 
recently  repeated  the  same  trick  on  a  larger  scale  against  the 
French,  as  is  shown  by  the  copy  of  an  order  issued  by  the 
French  officials.  It  is  therein  referred  to  as  a  ruse,  but  if  that 
term  can  be  accepted,  it  is  a  distinctly  illegal  ruse. 

EEFERS  TO  RHEIMS  CATHEDRAL 

*'Full  details  of  the  actual  damage  done  to  the  cathedral 
at  Rheims  will  doubtless  have  been  cabled,  so  that  no  descrip- 
tion of  it  is  necessary.  The  Germans  bombarded  the  cathe- 
dral t^vice  with  their  heavy  artillery. 

* '  One  reason  it  caught  fire  so  quickly  was  that  on  one  side 
of  it  was  some  scaffolding  which  had  been  erected  for  restora- 
tion work.  Straw  had  also  been  laid  on  the  floor  for  the  recep- 
tion of  German  wounded.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  French 
that  practically  all  the  German  wounded  were  successfully 
extricated  from  the  burning  building. 

''There  was  no  justification  on  military  grounds  for  this 
act  of  vandalism,  which  seems  to  have  been  caused  by  exas- 
peration born  of  failure — a  sign  of  impotence  rather  than  of 
strength. ' ' 


FIVE  MORE  DAYS  OF  BATTLE 

On  September  29  Field  Marshal  French's  headquarters 
reported  as  follows: 

"The  general  situation  as  viewed  on  the  map  remains 
practically  the  same  as  that  described  in  the  last  letter,  and 
the  task  of  the  army  has  not  changed.  It  is  to  raaintain  itself 
imtil  there  is  a  general  resumption  of  the  offensive.  _ 

"No  ground  has  been  lost.  Some  has  been  gained,  and 
every  counter-attack  has  been  repulsed — in  certain  instances 
with  very  severe  losses  to  the  enemy. 

"Of  recent  events  an  actual  narrative  will  be  carried  on 
from  the  25th  to  29th,  inclusive.  During  the  whole  of  this 
period  the  weather  has  remained  fine. 

"On  Friday,  the  25th,  comparative  quiet  reigned  in  our 
fiphere  of  action.  The  only  incident  worthy  of  special  mention 
was  the  passage  of  a  German  aeroplane  over  the  interior  of 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  301 

our  lines.  It  was  flying  high,  but  drew  a  general  fusillade 
from  below,  with  the  result  that  the  pilot  was  killed  outright 
and  the  observer  was  wounded.  The  latter  was  captured  by 
the  French. 

''That  night  a  general  attack  was  made  against  the  greater 
part  of  the  Allies'  position,  and  it  was  renewed  in  the  early 
morning  of  Saturday,  the  26th.  The  Germans  were  every- 
where repulsed  with  loss.  Indeed,  opposite  one  portion  of  our 
lines,  where  they  were  caught  in  mass  by  our  machine-guns 
and  howitzers  firing  at  different  ranges,  it  is  estimated  that 
they  left  1,000  killed  or  wounded. 

''The  mental  attitude  of  our  troops  may  be  gauged  from 
the  fact  that  the  ofBicial  report  next  morning  from  one  corps, 
of  which  one  division  had  borne  the  brunt  of  the  fighting,  ran 
thus  laconically:  'The  night  was  quiet  except  for  a  certain 
amount  of  shelling  both  from  the  enemy  and  ourselves. ' 

AN"  ALL-DAY  ATTACK 

*' At  3 :40  a.  m.  an  attack  was  made  on  our  right.    At  5  a.  m. 

thexie  was  a  general  attack  on  the  right  of  the th  division, 

but  no  really  heavy  firing.  Further  ineffectual  efforts  to  drive 
us  back  were  made  at  8  a.  m.  and  in  the  afternoon,  and  the 
artillery  fire  continued  all  day. 

"The  Germans  came  on  in  'T'  formation,  several  lines 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  followed  almost  immediately  by  a  column 
in  support.  After  a  very  few  minutes  the  men  had  closed  up 
into  a  mob,  which  afforded  an  excellent  target  for  our  fire. 

' '  On  Sunday,  the  27th,  while  the  German  heavy  guns  were 
in  action,  their  brass  bands  could  be  heard  playing  hymn  tunes, 
presumably  at  divine  service. 

"The  enemy  made  an  important  advance  on  part  of  our 
line  at  6  p.  m.,  and  renewed  it  in  strength  at  one  point,  with, 
however,  no  better  success  than  on  the  previous  night.  Snip- 
ing continued  all  day  along  the  whole  front. 

"On  Monday,  the  28th,  there  was  nothing  more  severe  than 
a  bombardment  and  intermittent  sniping,  and  this  inactivity 
continued  during  Tuesday,  the  29th,  except  for  a  night  attack 
against  our  extreme  right. 

A  TYPICAL  BATTLE  INCIDENT 

"An  incident  that  occurred  Sunday,  the  27th,  serves  to 
illustrate  the  type  of  fighting  that  has  for  the  last  two  weeks 


302  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

been  going  on  intermittently  on  various  parts  of  our  lines.  It 
also  brings  out  the  extreme  difficulty  of  ascertaining  what  is 
actually  happening  during  an  action  apart  from  what  seems 
to  be  happening,  and  points  to  the  value  of  good  intrench- 
ments. 

*' At  a  certain  point  in  our  front  our  advance  trenches  were 
on  the  north  of  the  Aisne,  not  far  from  a  viHage  on  a  hillside 
and  also  within  a  short  distance  of  Geiman  works,  being  on  a 
slope  of  a  spur  formed  by  a  subsidiary  valley  running  north 
and  a  main  valley  of  the  river.  It  was  a  calm,  sunny  after- 
noon, but  hazy,  and  from  our  point  of  vantage  south  of  the 
river  it  was  difficult  exactly  to  locate  on  the  far  bank  the  well- 
concealed  trenches. 

*  *  From  far  and  near  the  sullen  boom  of  guns  echoed  along 
the  valley,  and  at  intervals  in  a  different  direction  the  sky 
was  flecked  with  the  almost  motionless  smoke  of  anti-aircraft 
shrapnel. 

* '  Suddenly  and  without  any  warning,  for  the  reports  of  the 
distant  howitzers  from  which  they  were  fired  could  not  be  dis- 
tinguished from  other  distant  reports,  three  or  four  heavy 
shells  fell  into  the  village,  sending  up  huge  clouds  of  dust 
and  smoke,  w^hich  ascended  in  a  brownish-gray  column.  To 
this  no  reply  was  made  by  our  side. 

''Shortly  afterwards  there  was  a  quick  succession  of  re- 
ports from  a  point  some  distance  up  the  subsidiary  vallej''  on 
the  side  opposite  our  trenches  and  therefore  rather  on  their 
flank.  It  was  not  possible  either  by  ear  or  by  eye  to  locate  the 
guns  from  which  the  sounds  proceeded.  Almost  simultaneously, 
as  it  seemed,  there  was  a  corresponding  succession  of  flashes 
and  sharp  detonations  in  the  line  along  the  hillside  along  what 
appeared  to  be  our  trenches. 

"There  was  then  a  pause  and  several  clouds  of  smoke 
rose  slowly  and  remained  stationary,  spaced  as  regularly  as 
poplars. 

''Again  there  was  a  succession  of  reports  from  German 
quick-firers  on  the  far  side  of  the  misty  valley  and  like  echoes 
of  detonations  of  high  explosives ;  then  the  row  of  expanding 
smoke  clouds  was  prolonged  by  several  new  ones.  Another 
pause  and  silence,  except  for  the  noise  in  the  distance. 

"After  a  few  minutes  there  was  a  roar  from  our  side  of 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  303 

the  main  valley  as  our  field  guns  opened  one  after  another  in 
a  more  deliberate  fire  upon  the  positions  of  the  German  guns. 
After  six  reports  there  was  again  silence  save  for  the  whirr 
of  shells  as  they  sang  up  the  small  valley.  Then  followed 
flashes  and  balls  of  smoke — one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six — as 
the  shrapnel  burst  nicely  over  what  in  the  haze  looked  like 
some  ruined  buildings  at  the  edge  of  the  wood. 

TKYnSTG  TO  ENFILADE  THE  TKENCHES 

** Again,  after  a  short  interval,  the  enemy's  gunners  re- 
opened with  a  burst,  still  further  prolonging  the  smoke,  which 
was  by  now  merged  into  one  solid  screen  above  a  considerable 
leng*th  of  the  trenches  and  again  did  our  guns  reply.  And  so 
the  duel  went  on  for  some  time. 

**  Ignoring  our  guns,  the  German  artillerymen,  probably 
relying  on  concealment  for  immunity,  were  concentrating  all 
their  efforts  in  a  particularly  forceful  effort  to  enfilade  our 
trenches.  For  them  it  must  have  appeared  to  be  the  chance 
of  a  hf  etime,  and  with  their  customary  prodigality  of  ammuni- 
tion they  continued  to  pour  bouquet  after  bouquet  of  high 
explosives  or  combined  shrapnel  and  common  shells  into  our 
works. 

**  Occasionally,  with  a  roar,  a  high  angle  projectile  would 
sail  over  the  hill  and  blast  a  gap  in  the  village.  One  could 
only  pray  that  our  men  holding  the  trenches  had  dug  them- 
selves in  deep  and  well,  and  that  those  in  the  village  were  in 
cellars. 

'  *  In  the  hazy  valleys,  bathed  in  sunlight,  not  a  man,  not  a 
horse,  not  a  gun,  nor  even  a  trench  was  to  be  seen.  There 
were  only  flashes,  and  smoke,  and  noise.  Above,  against  the 
blue  sky,  several  round,  white  clouds  were  hanging.  The  only 
two  visible  human  souls  were  represented  by  a  glistening  speck 
in  the  air.  On  high  also  were  to  be  heard  more  or  less  gentle 
reports  of  the  anti-aircraft  projectiles. 

''But  the  deepest  impression  created  was  one  of  sympathy 
for  the  men  subjected  to  the  bursts  along  that  trench.  Upon 
inquiry  as  to  the  losses  sustained,  however,  it  was  found  that 
our  men  had  been  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  and  had  dug 
themselves  well  in.  In  that  collection  of  trenches  on  that 
Sunday  afternoon  were  portions  of  four  battalions  of  British 


304  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

soldiers— the  Dorsets,  the  West  Kents,  the  King's  Own  York- 
shire light  infantry,  and  the  King's  Own  Scottish  Borderers." 

AKMIES  IN  A  DEADLOCK 

Later  reports  from  the  Aisne  valley,  up  to  October  17, 
when  the  big  battle  had  been  five  weeks  in  progress,  indicated 
little  change  in  the  general  situation.  Bombardments  and 
artillery  duels,  varied  by  general  attacks,  occurred  daily  all 
along  the  line.  The  main  positions  of  both  armies  were  firmly 
held,  though  the  French  had  gained  some  ground  north  of 
Rheims  and  continually  threatened  the  German  center.  The 
left  of  the  Allies'  line  had  crept  north  to  and  beyond  Arras, 
where  there  was  severe  fighting  for  several  days ;  and  at  the 
end  of  the  thirty-fifth  day  of  thp.  battle  of  the  Rivers  the  lines 
of  the  opposing  armies  extended  almost  continuously  from 
beyond  Arras  on  the  northwest,  south  in  a  great  curve  to  the 
Aisne  valley,  thence  east  to  Verdun,  where  the  Crown  Prince's 
army  kept  hammering  away  at  that  fortress  without  success, 
and  thence  southwest  to  Nancy  and  the  Alsatian  border.  ^ 

By  this  time  the  armies  of  the  center  were  in  a  species  of 
deadlock.  The  strain  on  both  sides  had  long  promised  to  get 
beyond  human  endurance  and  the  antagonists  of  the  Aisne 
were  likened  by  a  French  officer  to  two  exhausted  pugilists, 
who  would  soon  be  unable  to  inflict  further  punishment  upon 
each  other.  But  there  was  no  sign  of  ''throwing  up  the 
sponge"  on  either  side,  though  beyond  the  actual  sphere  of 
conflict  it  was  felt  that  ' '  something  must  give  way  soon.  *  * 


)> 


A  BLAZING  VALE  OF  DEATH 

Writing  on  September  16,  the  fourth  day  of  the  battle,  a 
special  correspondent  behind  the  British  lines  by  Senlis  and 
Chantilly,  said : 

"I  have  passed  through  a  smiling  land  to  a  land  wearing 
the  mask  of  death;  through  harvest  fields  rich  with  great 
stacks  snugly  builded  against  the  mnter  to  the  fields  of  a 
braver  harvest;  by  jocund  villages  where  there  is  no  break  in 
the  ebb  and  flow  of  everyday  life  to  villages  and  towns  that 
despoiling  hands  have  shattered  in  ruins. 

"And  I  have  passed  up  this  Via  Dolorosa  toward  the  very 
har\^esting  itself— toward  those  great  plains  stretching  away 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  305 

on  the  banks  of  the  Eiver  Aisne,  where  the  second  act  of  this 
drama  of  battles  is  at  this  moment  being  played. 

''Details  of  this  fight,  which,  as  I  write,  reaches  its  fourth 
day  of  duration,  are  very  scanty,  but  partly  from  personal 
observation  and  partly  from  information  which  has  reached 
me  I  know  that  the  struggle  so  far  has  been  a  terrible  one, 
equal  to,  if  not  greater  than,  the  struggle  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mame. 

"The  events  of  Monday  (September  14)  revealed  a  foe  bat- 
tling desperately  for  his  life ;  and  this  defense  of  General  von 
Kluck's  army  demanded  of  the  Allies  their  utmost  strength 
and  determination. 

"Picture  this  battlefield,  which  will  assuredly  take  its  place 
with  that  of  the  Marne  as  one  of  the  greatest  combats  of  the 
greatest  war.  Through  the  middle  of  it  flows  the  great  river, 
passing  from  the  east  to  the  west.  The  banks  of  the  river  here 
are  very  steep.  Above  the  plain,  which  sweeps  away  from  the 
northern  bank,  rises  the ' '  massif '  *  of  Laon.  It  is  an  ideal  area 
for  great  movements  and  for  artillery  work  directed  upon  the 
valley  of  the  river.  Passing  eastward  a  little,  there  are  the 
heights  behind  the  city  of  Eheims  and  above  the  Vesle,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Aisne.  Here  again  nature  has  builded  a  strong- 
hold easy  to  defend,  difficult  exceedingly  to  attack. 

**I  know  of  heroic  work  against  these  great  lines,  work 
that  will  live  with  the  most  momentous  of  this  struggle.  I 
know  of  smashing  attacks  the  thought  of  which  takes  one's 
breath  away.  I  have  heard  narratives  of  the  trenches  and  of 
the  bridges — ^these  engineers,  French  and  English,  have  indeed 
'played  the  game' — ^which  no  man  can  hear  unmoved ;  how  the 
columns  went  down  again  and  again  to  the  blazing  death  of 
the  valley,  and  how  men  worked,  building  and  girding  in  a 
very  inferno — ^worked  with  the  furious  speed  of  those  whose 
time  of  work  is  short. 

HEROISM  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

"And  in  the  trenches,  too,  the  tale  of  heroism  unfolds  itself 
hour  by  hour.  Here  is  an  example,  one  among  ten  thousand, 
the  story  of  a  wounded  private :  'We  lay  together,  my  friend 
and  I.  .  .  .  The  order  to  fire  came.  We  shot  and  shot  till 
our  rifles  burned  us.  Still  they  swarmed  on  towtirds  us.  We 
took  careful  aim  all  the  while.    "Ah,  good,  did  you  see  that?" 


306  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

I  turned  to  my  friend  and  as  I  did  so  heard  a  terrible  dull 
sound  like  a  spade  striking  upon  newly  turned  earth.  His 
head  was  fallen  forward.  I  spoke,  I  called  him  by  name.  He 
was  moaning  a  little.  Then  I  turned  to  my  work  again.  They 
are  advancing  quickly  now.  Ah !  how  cool  I  was.  I  shot  so 
slowly,     ...     so  very  slowly. 

**  'And  then — do  you  know  what  it  feels  hke  to  be 
wounded?  I  rose  just  a  little  too  high  on  my  elbow.  A  sting 
that  pierces  my  arm  like  a  hot  "svire — too  sharp  almost  to  be 
sore.  I  felt  my  arm  go  away  from  me — it  seemed  like  that — 
and  then  my  rifle  fell.  I  believe  I  was  a  little  dazed.  I  looked 
at  my  friend  presently.     He  was  dead. ' 

THE  GKIM  STOKY  OF  SENLIS 

**So,  on  these  green  river  banks  and  aeross  these  fair 
wooded  plains  the  Germans  make  their  great  stand — the  stand 
that  if  they  are  defeated  will  be  their  last  in  France.  And 
meanwhile  behind  them  lie  the  wasted  fields  and  the  broken 
villages.  It  is  impossible  adequately  to  describe  the  scenes 
which  I  have  witnessed  on  the  line  of  the  great  retreat,  but 
here  and  there  events  have  had  place,  w^hieh,  in  truth,  cry  to 
high  heaven  for  report.    Of  such  is  the  grim  story  of  Senlis. 

* '  I  spent  many  hours  in  Senlis  and  I  will  recount  that  story 
as  I  saw  it  and  as  I  heard  it  from  those  who  lived  through  the 
dreadful  procession  of  days.  On  Saturday,  September  5,  the 
Germans  reached  this  beautiful  old  cathedral  town  and  entered 
into  occupation.  They  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  inhab- 
itants calling  upon  them  to  submit  and  to  offer  no  sort  of 
resistance  on  pain  of  severe  reprisals. 

**But  the  inhabitants  of  Senlis  had  already  tasted  the 
bitter  draft  of  war  making.  The  people  had  become  bitter 
to  the  point  of  losing  care  of  their  own  safety.  They  were 
reckless,  driven  to  distraction. 

'^ Bitter  was  the  price  exacted  for  the  recklessness!  The 
trouble  began  when,  exasperated  beyond  measure  by  their 
insolence,  a  brave  tobacconist  declared  to  a  couple  of  the  Prus- 
sians: 'I  serve  men,  not  bullies.'  He  followed  his  words 
with  a  blow  delivered  fiercely  from  the  shoulder. 

*'The  infuriated  soldiers  dragged  him  from  his  shop  and 
hurled  him  on  his  knees  in  front  of  the  door.  His  wife  rushed 
out  shrieking  for  mercy.     Mercy !     As  well  ask  it  of  a  stone  I 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  307 

A  shot  rang  out.  .  .  .  Another.  .  .  .  Man  and  wife 
lay  dead. 

''Immediately  the  news  of  this  murderous  act  flew  through 
the  towTi.  Outraged  and  furious,  the  conquerors  marched  in- 
stantly to  the  house  of  the  mayor — their  hostage — and 
arrested  him.  They  conveyed  him  without  a  moment 's  delay 
to  the  mihtary  headquarters,  where  he  was  imprisoned  for  the 
night.  On  Wednesday  morning  a  court-martial  sat  to  decide 
his  fate.  A  few  minutes  later  this  brave  man  paid  for  the 
indiscretion  of  his  people  with  his  life,  dying  splendidly. 

''And  then  guns  were  turned  on  this  town  of  living  men 
and  women  and  children.  Shells  crashed  into  the  houses,  into 
the  shops,  into  the  station.  At  Chantilly,  seven  kilometers 
away,  the  amazed  inhabitants  saw  a  great  column  of  black 
smoke  curl  up  into  the  air;  they  guessed  the  horrible  truth. 
Senlis  was  burning. 

"The  work,  however,  was  intermpted.  At  midday  the 
glad  tidings  were  heard,  'The  Turcos  are  here.'  Within  the 
hour  broken  and  blazing  Senhs  was  re-relieved  and  rescued. 
The  Turcos  pursued  and  severely  punished  the  enemy. 

"Today  these  streets  are  terrible  to  look  upon.  House 
after  house  has  been  shattered  to  pieces — broken  to  a  pile  of 
stones.  One  of  the  small  turrets  of  the  cathedral  has  been 
demolished,  and  a  rent  has  been  torn  in  the  stone  work  of  the 
tower.     The  station  is  like  a  wilderness." 

RHEIMS  CATHEDRAIj  DAMAGED 

A  correspondent  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the  German  bom- 
bardment of  Rheims,  during  the  battle  on  the  Aisne,  as  viewed 
by  him  from  the  belfry  of  the  famous  cathedral. 

"What  a  spectacle  it  was!"  he  said.  "Under  the  cold, 
drifting  gray  rainclouds  the  whole  semicircle  of  the  horizon 
was  edged  by  heights  on  which  the  German  batteries  were 
mounted,  three  miles  away. 

"There  was  nothing  but  the  inferno  of  bursting  shells, 
those  of  the  Germans  landing  anywhere  within  the  space  of 
a  square  mile.  Sometimes  it  was  just  outside  the  town  that 
they  fell,  trying  to  find  the  French  troops  lying  there  in  their 
trenches,  waiting  to  go  forward  to  the  attack  of  the  hills,  when 
their  artillery  should  have  prepared  the  way. 

' '  The  cathedral  tower  made  a  wonderful  grand  stand  from 


308  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

whicli  to  watcli  this  appalling  game  of  destruction.  It  was 
under  the  protection  of  the  Red  Cross  flag,  for  directly  the 
shells  began  to  hit  the  cathedral  in  the  morning  some  German 
wounded  were  brought  in  from  a  hospital  nearby  and  laid  on 
straw  in  the  nave,  while  Abbe  Andreaux  and  a  Red  Cross  sol- 
dier pluckily  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  tower  and  hung  out  two 
Geneva  flags. 

''The  crescendo  scream  the  shells  make  has  something 
fiendish  in  it  that  would  be  thrilling  apart  from  the  danger 
of  which  it  is  the  sign.  You  hear  it  a  full  second  before  the 
shell  strikes,  and  in  that  time  you  can  tell  instinctively  the 
direction  of  its  flight. 

''Then  comes  the  crash  of  the  explosion,  which  is  hke  all 
the  breakages  you  ever  heard  gathered  into  one  simultaneous 
smash." 

SAVING   THE   GERMAN  WOUNDED 

A  few  of  the  German  shells  struck  the  cathedral  and  set  it 
on  fire.  The  scene  was  thus  described  by  Abbe  Camu,  a  priest 
of  Rheims : 

"It  was  all  over  in  an  hour.  There  were  two  separate 
fires.  AVe  put  the  first  out  with  four  buckets  of  water,  all  we 
had  in  the  place,  but  soon  another  sheU  struck  the  roof  and  the 
wind  drove  the  flames  along  the  rafters  inside  of  the  nave.  We 
rushed  up,  but  it  was  flaming  all  along  and  as  we  could  do 
nothing,  we  hurried  do^vn. 

"There  were  holes  in  the  ceiling  of  the  nave  and  sparks 
began  to  fall  through  them  into  a  great  heap  of  straw,  ten 
feet  high  and  twenty  yards  long,  which  the  Germans  had  piled 
along  the  north  aisle.  We  tried  to  catch  the  sparks  in  our 
hands  as  they  fell,  and  such  of  the  German  wounded  as  were 
able  to  walk  helped  us.  But  the  first  spark  that  fell  on  the 
pile  set  it  blazing.  There  was  time  to  think  of  nothing  but 
getting  out  the  wounded. 

' '  They  screamed  horribly.  We  carried  many  of  those  that 
could  not  walk,  while  others  dragged  themselves  painfully 
along  to  the  side  door  in  the  north  aisle.  Those  who  had 
only  hand  and  arm  wounds  helped  their  comrades.  We  got 
()ut  all  except  thirteen,  whose  bodies  were  left  behind. 

"When  at  last  I  came  out  of  the  flaming  building  I  found 
the  whole  body  of  wounded  huddled  together  around  the  doors. 


BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE  309 

Opposite  to  them  was  a  furiously  hostile  crowd  of  civilians  of 
the  towTi  and  a  number  of  soldiers  mth  their  rifles  already 
leveled. 

**I  sprang  forward.    'What  are  you  doing?'  I  cried. 

a  'They  shall  all  bum,'  shouted  the  soldiers  in  answer. 
'They  shall  go  back  and  burn  with  the  cathedral  or  we  will 
shoot  them  here.' 

*'  'You  are  mad!'  I  exclaimed  in  reply.  'Think  of  what 
this  means.  All  the  world  will  hear  of  the  crime  the  Germans 
have  committed  here,  and  if  you  shoot  these  men  the  world 
will  know  that  France  has  been  as  criminal  in  her  turn.  Any- 
how,' I  said,  'you  shall  shoot  me  first,  for  I  will  not  move.' 

"Unwillingly  the  soldiers  lowered  their  rifles  and  I  turned 
to  six  German  officers  who  were  among  the  wounded  and  asked 
if  they  would  do  what  I  told  them  to.  They  said  they  would 
and  I  asked  them  to  tell  their  men  to  do  the  same.  Then  I 
formed  them  up  in  a  sofld  body,  those  who  could  walk  unaided 
carrying  or  helping  those  who  could  not.  I  put  myself  at  the 
head  and  we  set  off  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  which  is  only  a  few 
hundred  yards  away. 

"Well,  then  the  crowd,  mad  with  grief  and  rage,  set  on  us. 
I  can't  describe  it.  You  have  never  seen  anything  so  dreadful 
as  that  scene.  They  beat  some  of  the  Germans  and  some  of 
them  they  got  down. 

"  ' Can't  you  help  me?'  I  called  to  a  French  officer  I  caught 
sight  of. 

"  'You  will  never  get  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  like  this,'  he 
rephed,  so  I  forced  my  wounded  through  the  gateway  of  a 
private  house  and  we  managed  to  close  the  gates  after  us. 

' '  They  had  been  roughly  handled,  some  of  them,  and  they 
stayed  there  a  day  and  a  night  before  we  could  move  them 
again. ' ' 

[The  damage  done  to  the  cathedral  at  Rheims,  by  the  way, 
though  by  no  means  slight,  inexpressibly  sad  and  truly  re- 
grettable, was  not  nearly  so  great  as'  was  indicated  by  many 
early  reports.  The  friends  of  architectural  art  and  beauty 
hope  to  see  the  cathedral  fully  restored  at  no  distant  date.] 

"slaughter"  at  soissons 

Much  of  the  fighting  during  the  battle  of  the  Aisne  cen- 
tered around  Soissons.  On  September  16  a  correspondent 
described  the  fighting  there  as  follows ; 


310  BATTLE  OF  THE  AISNE 

*'For  the  last  three  hours  I  have  been  watching  from  the 
hills  to  the  south  of  the  town  that  part  of  the  terrific  struggle 
that  may  be  known  in  history  as  the  battle  of  Soissons. 

*'It  has  lasted  for  four  days,  and  only  now  can  it  be  said 
that  victory  is  turning  to  the  side  of  the  Allies. 

**The  town  itself  cannot  be  entered  for  it  still  is  being 
raked  both  by  artillery  and  rifle  fire,  and  great  columns  of 
smoke  mark  several  points  at  which  houses  are  burning. 

*'The  center  of  the  fighting  lies  where  the  British  and 
French  pontoon  corps  are  trying  to  keep  the  bridges  they 
have  succeeded  in  throwing  across  the  river. 

*'Men  who  have  come  from  the  front  line  tell  me  that  the 
combat  there  has  been  a  positive  slaughter.  They  say  that 
the  unremitting  and  desperate  firing  of  these  four  days  and 
nights  puts  anything  else  in  modern  warfare  into  the  shade, 
that  river  crossings  are  as  great  an  objective  on  one  side  to 
take  and  keep  as  on  the  other  to  destroy. ' ' 

SEVEN  DAYS  OF  HELL 

A  wounded  soldier,  on  being  brought  back  to  the  hospital 
at  Paris,  after  only  one  week  in  the  valley  of  the  Aisne,  said 
in  a  dazed  sort  of  way : 

''Each  day  was  like  the  others.  It  began  at  6  o'clock  in 
the  morning  with  heavy  shellfire.  There  was  a  short  interval 
at  which  it  stopped,  about  5 :30  every  day.  Then  in  the  night 
came  the  charges,  and  one  night  I  couldn't  count  them.  It 
was  awful — kill,  kill,  kill,  and  still  they  came  on,  shoving  one 
another  over  on  to  us.  Seven  days  and  nights  of  it  and  some 
nights  only  an  hour's  sleep ;  it  was  just  absolute  hell ! ' ' 

None  of  the  wounded  found  another  word  to  describe  the 
battle  and  the  sight  of  the  men  bore  it  out.  Muddied  to  the 
eyes,  wet,  often  mth  blood  caked  on  them,  many  were  suffering 
from  the  curious  aphasia  produced  by  continued  trouble  and 
the  concussion  of  shells  bursting.  Some  were  dazed  and 
speechless,  some  deafened,  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  said  a 
correspondent,  no  face  wore  the  terrible  animal  war  look. 
They  seemed  to  have  been  softened,  instead  of  hardened,  by 
their  awful  experience. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

Great  Seaport  of  Belgium  Besieged  hy  a  Large  German 
Force — Forts  Battered  by  Heavy  Siege  Guns — Final 
Surrender  of  the  City — Belgian  and  British  Defenders 
Escape — Exodus  of  Inhabitants — Germans  Reach  the 
Sea. 

HEN  the  battle  of  the  Marne  ended  in  favor  of  the  Allies 
and  the  Germans  retired  to  take  up  a  defensive  position 
along  the  Aisne,  the  Belgian  army  renewed  its  activities 
against  the  invader.  With  the  fortified  city  of  Antwerp  as 
their  base,  the  Belgians  began  (on  September  10)  an  active 
campaign,  having  for  its  object  the  reoccupation  of  their  cities 
and  towns  which  had  been  taken  and  garrisoned  by  German 
troops.  In  some  cases  they  were  successful  in  regaining  pos- 
session of  points  which  they  had  been  forced  to  abandon  dur-^ 
ing  the  German  advance  in  August,  and  there  were  many  hot 
encounters  with  the  Germans  who  were  left  to  hold  open  the 
German  lines  of  communication  through  Belgium.  But  the 
forces  of  the  Kaiser  were  too  numerous  and  too  mobile  for 
successful  opposition,  and  soon  the  Belgian  army,  despite  the 
most  gallant  efforts,  was  compelled  once  more  to  retire  behind 
the  outer  forts  of  Antwerp  and  there  await  the  coming  of  an 
enemy  who  was  approaching  in  force. 

Great  credit  must  be  given  to  the  Belgian  army  for 
the  patriotic  manner  in  which  it  met  the  sudden  invasion 
by  the  Germans,  and  for  its  continiied  resistance  against 
tremendous  odds.  Inspired  by  the  example  of  King  Al- 
bert and  his  devoted  Queen,  who  spent  most  of  their 
time  with  the  Belgian  forces  in  the  field,  and  shared 
with  them  the  vicissitudes  of  war,  the  defenders  of  Bel- 
gium fought  with  the  utmost  pertinacity.     The  resistance 

311 


312  FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

of  the  Belgians  when  invaded,  and  the  success  of  the  Allies 
in  halting  the  advance  upon  Paris  and  turning  it  into  a 
retreat  at  the  Marne,  appear  to  have  inflamed  the  German 
generals  with  a  desire  to  crush  Belgium  completely  under  an 
iron  heel.  An  object  lesson  of  the  power  and  possibilities  of 
the  great  fighting  machine  must  be  given  somewhere.  Halted 
in  France  by  the  Franco-British  armies  and  meeting  with 
varying  fortunes  against  the  Russian  hosts  in  the  eastern 
campaign,  Germany  chose  to  make  Belgium  once  more  the 
international  cockpit  and  hurled  an  army  against  Antwerp. 
This  move,  if  successful  (as  it  proved  to  be)  would  serve  two 
purposes— rfirst,  the  further  punishment  of  Belgium  for  her 
unexpected  resistance,  and  second,  the  striking  of  a  direct 
blow  at  Great  Britain,  the  possession  of  Antwerp  being 
strategically  regarded  as  "a  pistol  leveled  at  the  head  of 
London. '  * 

THE  SIEGE  OF  ANTWERP 

In  the  third  week  of  September  the  Germans,  having 
massed  a  force  believed  to  be  sufficient  for  the  capture  of 
Antwerp,  brought  up  their  heavy  Krupp  siege  guns  which 
had  been  used  successfully  at  Liege  and  Namur,  and  planted 
them  within  their  seven-mile  range,  so  as  to  command  the 
outer  belt  of  forts  east  and  south  of  the  city.  [See  map  of 
the  fortifications  of  Antwerp  on  page  102.]  These  huge  how- 
itzers were  reinforced  by  heavy  siege  guns  furnished  by  Aus- 
tria. The  fortification  system  of  Antwerp  was  believed  by 
its  builders  to  be  practically  impregnable,  but  they  had  not 
reckoned  with  the  tremendous  shattering  power  and  great 
range  of  the  latest  Krupp  siege  guns.  For  Antwerp  was 
destined  to  fall,  her  outer  and  inner  defenses  broken  down, 
within  ten  days  from  the  time  the  siege  began  in  earnest. 

BRITISH  MARINES  AID  DEFENDERS 

The  number  of  German  troops  engaged  before  Antwerp 
was  variously  estimated  at  from  80,000  to  200,000.  The  siege 
proper  began  on  Tuesday,  September  29.  For  more  than  a 
week  previously  there  had  been  daily  engagements  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city  and  on  several  occasions  the  Belgians 
made  a  sortie  in  force,  only  to  encounter  overwhelming  num- 
bers of  the  German  enemy,  before  whom  they  were  compelled 


FALL  OF  ANTWERP  313 

to  retire  behind  the  shelter  of  the  forts.  In  all  these  engage- 
ments the  Belgians  gave  a  good  account  of  themselves  and 
inflicted  severe  losses  on  the  enemy.  But  the  odds  against 
them  were  too  great  and  then  when  the  great  siege  guns 
began  to  thunder,  it  was  soon  realized  that  the  city  was  in 
imminent  danger. 

King  Albert  did  all  in  his  power  to  encourage  the  defense 
and  by  his  presence  among  his  troops  on  the  firing  lines  around 
the  city  added  greatly  to  his  reputation  as  a  patriotic  soldier. 
A  force  of  several  thousand  British  marines,  coming  from 
Ostend,  aided  the  Belgian  defense  in  the  last  days  of  the 
siege,  but  all  efforts  were  unavailing.  One  by  one  the  forts 
succumbed  to  the  German  fire  with  which  the  Belgian  guns 
could  not  cope,  and  German  troops  penetrated  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  doomed  city. 

Finally,  on  October  9,  when  the  inhabitants  were  in  a  state 
of  terror  as  a  result  of  the  long-continued  bombardment  of  the 
forts,  and  the  shelling  of  the  city,  further  resistance  was  seen 
to  be  useless,  the  defending  forces,  Belgian  and  British,  made 
their  escape  to  Ostend  or  into  the  neutral  territory  of  Holland, 
the  city  formally  capitulated  through  the  Burgomaster,  and 
occupation  by  the  Germans  followed  inunediately.  The  bulk 
of  the  British  marines  made  their  way  back  to  Ostend,  but 
a  rearguard,  consisting  of  2,000  British,  together  with  some 
Belgians,  was  cut  off  by  the  advance  of  the  Germans  across 
the  Scheldt,  and  rather  than  surrender  to  them  marched 
across  the  border  into  Holland  and  surrendered  arms  to  the 
Dutch  authorities.  The  men  were  interned  and  will  be  held 
in  Holland  till  the  end  of  the  war.  It  is  probable  that  this 
rearguard  was  deliberately  sacrificed  to  enable  the  Anglo- 
Belgian  army  to  make  good  its  retreat. 

The  fate  of  Antwerp  shows  what  might  have  happened  to 
Paris  had  the  Germans  been  able  to  bring  up  their  great  siege 
guns  to  the  outer  fortifications  of  the  French  capital  and  pro- 
tect them  while  they  performed  their  tremendous  task  of 
battering  the  defenses  to  pieces.  The  wrecking  of  Antwerp's 
outer  and  inner  forts  in  ten  days  proves  that  solid,  massive 
concrete,  chilled  steel  and  well-planned  earthworks  afford 
little  or  no  security  against  the  monstrous  cannon  of  the  Kai- 


314  FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

ser^s  armies.     There  appeared  to  be  but  one  way  of  with- 
standing them. 

As  seems  to  have  been  demonstrated  in  the  valley  of  the 
Aisne,  they  are  apparently  ineffective  against  field  forces 
deeply  intrenched  in  a  far-flung  line. 


THE  FIGHTING  OUTSIDE  ANTWERP 

Early  on  Tuesday  morning,  October  6,  one  of  the  fiercest 
of  the  engagements  outside  Antwerp  ended  with  the  crossing 
of  the  River  Nethe  by  the  Germans  and  their  approach  to  the 
inner  forts.  Monday  had  been  the  sixth  day  of  the  siege  and 
the  Belgian  army  was  fighting  with  reckless  courage  to  save 
Antwerp.  As  a  precaution,  the  boilers  of  all  the  German 
ships  lying  in  the  harbor  were  exploded  on  Sunday,  in  order 
to  prevent,  if  possible,  use  of  these  ships  as  transports  for 
German  troops  across  the  North  Sea  or  elsewhere.  The  det- 
onation of  the  bursting  boilers,  resounding  through  the  city, 
set  the  excited  Sunday  crowd  very  near  to  a  panic.  This  was 
accelerated  by  the  constant  fear  of  airship  attacks,  and  most 
of  the  population  that  was  not  already  in  active  flight  from  the 
city  sought  safety  in  cellars. 

The  entire  war  has  presented  no  greater  picture  of  desola- 
tion than  that  of  the  hosts  fleeing  from  the  last  Belgian 
stronghold.  For  forty-eight  hours  before  the  city  fell  great 
crowds  of  the  citizens,  dumb  with  terror  as  the  huge  German 
shells  hurtled  over  their  heads,  were  fleeing  toward  England 
and  Holland  in  such  numbers  that  the  hospitality  of  those 
countries  was  likely  to  be  taxed  to  the  utmost. 

The  suburban  town  of  Lierre  was  bombarded  early  in  the 
week,  the  church  was  destroyed,  and  a  number  of  citizens 
killed  and  wounded.  The  next  day  the  village  of  Duffel  was 
bombarded  and  the  population  fled  into  Antwerp.  Many  still 
had  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  Antwerp  forts  to  with- 
stand the  German  attack. 

Although  the  Germans  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Nethe, 
their  repeated  attempts  to  effect  a  passage  over  the  Scheldt 
were  repulsed  and  they  then  concentrated  their  attention  on 
an  approach  to  Antwerp  from  the  southeast.  In  their  trenches 
the  Belgians  resisted  gallantly  to  the  last.  ''Most  wonder- 
ful," said  an  American  observer  on  October  7,  ''is  the  patient. 


FALL  OF  ANTWERP  315 

unfaltering  courage  of  the  average  Belgian  soldier,  who  has 
been  fighting  for  nine  weeks.  Tired,  with  hollow  eyes,  un- 
kempt, unwashed  and  provided  with  hasty,  though  ample, 
meals,  he  is  spending  most  of  the  tijjae  in  the  trenches. 

"King  Albert,  the  equal  of  any  soldier  in  his  devotion  to 
duty,  daily  exposes  himself  to  personal  danger,  while  the 
Queen  is  devoting  her  time  to  the  hospitals. ' ' 

The  effect  of  the  German  siege  artillery  was  especially 
destructive  near  Vosburg.  Several  villages  sufferea  heavily 
and  the  barracks  at  Contich  were  wrecked.  The  forts  at 
Waelhem  and  Wavre-St.  Catherines  were  totally  destroyed 
by  the  terrific  shell  fire. 

Most  of  the  fighting  around  Antwerp  was  a  battle  of 
Krupps  against  men.  Every  day  and  night  the  fighting  con- 
tinued with  deadly  effect  against  the  forts,  while  the  shrapnel 
and  shell  made  many  of  the  trenches  untenable. 

As  fast  as  "^he  Belgians  were  compelled  to  withdraw  from 
a  position  the  Jermans  moved  up  and  occupied  it.  The  Bel- 
gians fought  stubbornly  with  infantry  and  frequently  they 
repulsed  the  Germans,  but  these  repulses  always  meant  a 
renewal  of  the  artillery  attacks  by  the  Germans,  with  the 
eventual  retirement  of  the  Belgians  until  the  end  of  endurance 
was  reached  and  the  city  defenses  were  evacuated  by  their 
brave  garrison. 

An  instance  of  the  tenacity  with  which  the  infantry  stuck 
to  their  positions  was  reported  from  the  Berlaere,  where  the 
conunanding  officer  and  his  aid-de-camp  were  in  one  of  the 
most  exposed  positions.  Sandbags  protected  them  for  some 
time,  but  at  last  the  aid-de-camp  was  struck  by  shrapnel  and 
had  his  face  virtually  blown  away.  Unperturbed  by  this  ter- 
rible proof  of  the  danger  of  his  position,  the  commanding 
officer  stuck  to  his  post,  and  for  further  shelter  placed  the 
body  of  his  junior  over  his  body.  In  this  position  he  lay 
firing,  whenever  possible,  from  8  o  'cjock  in  the  morning  until 
4  in  the  afternoon. 

FIERCE  FIGHT  TO  CROSS  NETHE 

The  crossing  of  the  River  Nethe  was  attended  by  great  loss 
to  the  Germans.  They  hurled  their  infantry  recklessly  against 
the  Belgian  trenches,  and  while  they  lost  enormous  numbers, 
eventually  succeeded  in  crossing  the  river. 


316  FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

One  of  the  unsuccessful  attempts  was  described  by  an  inde- 
pendent observer  as  follows: 

*' The  Germans  succeeded  in  getting  a  pontoon  completed 
and  they  came  down  to  the  river  bank  in  solid  masses  to  cross 
it.  As  they  came  every  Belgian  gun  that  could  be  turned  on  the 
spot  was  concentrated  on  them  and  they  were  blown  away, 
blocks  of  them' at  a  time,  and  still  the  masses  came  on. 

' '  The  Belgian,  officers  spoke  with  enthusiasm  of  the  steadi- 
ness and  gallantry  with  which,  as  each  German  company  was 
swept  away,  another  pushed  into  its  place.  But  it  was  a  dread- 
ful sight,  nevertheless. 

*  'At  last  the  bridge  went,  shattered  and  blown  to  bits.  The 
Belgian  guns  continued  for  a  while  to  search  the  opposite  river 
bank,  but  the  Germans  fell  back  and  no  more  masses  of  men 
came  down  to  where  the  pontoon  had  been.  Allowing  for  all 
exaggerations,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  German  loss  must 
have  been  extremely  heavy. ' ' 

Near  Termonde,  on  Wednesday,  the  7th,  the  fighting  was 
just  as  fierce.  The  Belgians  had  four  batteries  of  field  guns 
there  which  succeeded  in  destroying  the  locks  of  the  river  (the 
Scheldt),  thus  flooding  a  part  of  the  river  and  blocking  the  Ger- 
mans. Later  they  engaged  in  a  hot  duel  with  the  German  artil- 
lery. Two  of  the  Belgian  batteries  were  completely  destroyed 
early  in  the  action  and  all  of  the  men  serving  them  were  killed. 
Not  until  the  last  of  the  remaining  guns  were  put  out  of  action 
did  the  Belgians  withdraw. 

Of  the  casualties  in  and  around  Antwerp  during  the  siege 
it  is  possible  only  to  make  an  estimate.  It  was  said  after  the 
Germans  entered  the  city  that  their  total  loss  in  killed,  wounded 
and  missing  was  near  forty-five  thousand  men.  German  officers 
were  credited  before  the  attack  with  saying  that  they  would 
sacrifice  100,000  men,  if  necessary,  to  take  Antwerp.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  German  casualties  numbered  at  least  twentv-five 
thousand,  while  the  Belgian  losses  in  actual  killed  and  wounded 
were  probably  five  thousand.  The  latter  fought  from  en- 
trenched positions,  while  the  heavy  German  losses  were  sus- 
tained in  the  open  and  at  the  river  crossings.  The  casualties 
among  the  British  marines,  who  arrived  only  a  day  or  two  be- 
fore the  city  capitulated,  were  comparatively  insignificant. 


FALL  OF  ANTWERP  317 

STOKY    OF   AN    EYEWITNESS — HAEROWING    SCENES   ATTENDING   THE 
FALL  OF  ANTWERP  AND  THE  EXODUS  OF  ITS  PEOPLE 

A  vivid  picture  jf  the  pathetic  scenes  attending  the  fall  of 
Antwerp  was  given  by  Lucien  A.  Jones,  correspondent  of  the 
London  Daily  Chronicle,  who  wrote  on  October  11th  as  follows: 

* '  Antwerp  has  been  surrendered  at  last.  The  bitterest  blow 
which  has  fallen  upon  Belgium  is  full  of  permanent  tragedy, 
but  the  tragedy  is  lightened  by  the  gallantry  with  which  the 
city  was  defended.  Only  at  last  to  save  the  historic  buildings 
and  precious  possessions  of  the  ancient  port  was  its  further 
defense  abandoned.  Already  much  of  it  had  been  shattered 
by  the  long-range  German  guns,  and  prolonged  resistance 
against  these  tremendous  engines  of  war  was  impossible. 
Owing  to  this  the  siege  was  perhaps  the  shortest  in  the  annals 
of  war  that  a  fortified  city  has  ever  sustained.  Heroic  efforts 
were  made  by  the  Belgians  to  stem  the  tide  of  the  enemy's 
advance,  but  the  end  could  not  long  be  delayed  when  the  siege 
guns  began  the  bombardment. 

"It  was  at  three  minutes  past  noon  on  Friday,  October  9th, 
that  the  Germans  entered  the  city,  which  was  formally  surren- 
dered by  Burgomaster  J.  De  Vos.  Antwerp  had  then  been 
under  a  devastating  and  continuous  shell  fire  for  over  forty 
hours. 

"It  was  difficult  to  ascertain  precisely  how  the  German  at- 
tack was  planned,  but  the  final  assault  consisted  of  a  continuous 
bombardment  of  two  hours'  duration,  from  half  past  7  o'clock 
in  the  morning  to  half-past  9.  During  that  time  there  was  a 
continuous  rain  of  shells,  and  it  was  extraordinary  to  notice 
the  precision  with  whiah  they  dropped  where  they  would  do 
the  most  damage.  The  Germans  used  captive  balloons,  whose 
officers  signaled  the  points  in  the  Belgian  defense  at  which  they 
should  aim. 

GEilMAN  GTJNS  CONCEALED 

**The  German  guns,  too,  were  concealed  with  such  clever- 
ness that  their  position  could  not  be  detected  by  the  Belgians. 
Against  such  methods  and  against  the  terrible  power  of  the 
German  guns  the  Belgian  artillery  seemed  quite  ineffective. 
Firing  came  to  an  end  at  9.30  on  Friday,  and  the  garrison  es- 
caped, leaving  only  ruins  behind  them.  In  order  to  gain  time 
for  an  orderly  retreat  a  heavy  fire  was  maintained  against  the 


318  FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

Germans  up  to  the  last  minute  and  the  forts  were  then  blown 
up  by  the  defenders  as  the  Germans  came  in  at  the  gate  of 
Malines. 

''I  was  lucky  enough  to  escape  by  the  river  to  the  north  in 
a  motorboat.  The  bombardment  had  then  ceased,  though  many 
buildings  were  still  blazing,  and  while  the  little  boat  sped  down 
the  Scheldt  one  could  imagine  the  procession  of  the  Kaiser's 
troops  already  goose-stepping  their  way  through  the  well-nigh 
deserted  streets. 

MANY  HAEEOWING  SCENES 

**  Those  forty  hours  of  shattering  noise  almost  without  lull 
seem  to  me  now  a  fantastic  nightmare,  but  the  sorrowful  sights 
I  witnessed  in  many  parts  of  the  city  cannot  be  forgotten. 

''It  was  Wednesday  night  that  the  shells  began  to  fall  into 
the  city.  From  then  onward  they  must  have  averaged  about 
ten  a  minute,  and  most  of  them  came  from  the  largest  guns 
which  the  Germans  possess,  'Black  Marias,'  as  Tommy  Atkins 
has  christened  them.  Before  the  bombardment  had  been  long- 
in  operation  the  civil  population,  or  a  large  proportion  of  it, 
fell  into  a  panic. 

"It  is  impossible  to  blame  these  peaceful,  quiet-living 
burghers  of  Antwerp  for  the  fears  that  possessed  them  when  a 
merciless  rain  of  German  shells  began  to  fall  into  the  streets 
and  on  the  roofs  of  their  houses  and  public  buildings.  The 
Burgomaster  had  in  his  proclamation  given  them  excellent  ad- 
vice, to  remain  calm  for  instance,  and  he  certainly  set  them  an 
a.dmirable  example,  but  it  was  impossible  to  counsel  perfection 
to  the  Belgians,  who  knew  what  had  happened  to  their  fellow- 
citizens  in  other  towns  which  the  Germans  had  passed  through. 

FOUGHT  TO  GET  ON  THE  BOATS 

"Imjnense  crowds  of  them — ^men,  women  and  children — 
gathered  along  the  quayside  and  at  the  railway  stations  in  an 
effort  to  make  a  hasty  exit  from  the  city.  Their  condition  was 
pitiable  in  the  extreme.  Family  parties  made  up  the  biggest 
proportion  of  this  vast  crowd  of  broken  men  and  women.  There 
were  husbands  and  wives  with  their  groups  of  scared  children, 
unable  to  understand  what  was  happening,  yet  dimly  con- 
scious in  their  childish  way  that  something  unusual  and  ter- 
rible and  perilous  had  come  into  their  lives. 


FALL  OF  ANTWERP  319 

"There  were  fully  40,000  of  tliem  assembled  on  tlie  long 
quay,  and  all  of  them  were  inspired  by  the  sure  and  certain 
hope  that  they  would  be  among  the  lucky  ones  who  would  get 
on  board  one  of  the  few  steamers  and  the  fifteen  or  twenty  tug- 
boats available.  As  there  was  no  one  to  arrange  their  sys- 
tematic embarkation  a  wild  struggle  followed  amongst  the 
frantic  people,  to  secure  a  place.  Men,  women  and  children 
fought  desperately  with  each  other  to  get  on  board,  and  in  that 
moment  of  supreme  anguish  human  nature  was  seen  in  one  of 
its  worst  moods;  but  who  can  blame  these  stricken  people? 

APPALLED  BY  THE  HORROE  OF  WAR 

''They  were  fleeing  from  Hes  harbares/  and  shells  that 
were  destroying  their  homes  and  giving  their  beloved  town  to 
the  flames  were  screaming  over  their  heads.  Their  trade  was 
not  war.  They  were  merchants,  shopkeepers,  comfortable 
citizens  of  middle  age  or  more ;  there  were  many  women  and 
children  among  them,  and  this  horror  had  come  upon  them  in 
a  more  appalling  shape  than  any  in  which  horror  had  visited 
a  civilized  conmiunity  in  modern  times. 

''There  was  a  scarcity  of  gangways  to  the  boats,  and  the 
only  means  of  boarding  them  was  by  narrow  planks  sloping  at 
dangerous  angles.  Up  these  the  fugitives  struggled,  and  the 
strong  elbowed  the  weak  out  of  their  way  in  a  mad  haste  to 
escape. 

"By  2  o'clock  Thursday  most  of  the  tugboats  had  got  away, 
but  there  were  still  some  15,000  people  who  had  not  been  able 
to  escape  and  had  to  await  whatever  fate  was  in  store  for  them. 

A  GREAT  EXODUS  OF  INHABITANTS 

"At  the  central  railway  station  incidents  of  a  similar  kind 
were  happening.  There,  as  down  by  the  river,  immense 
throngs  of  people  had  assembled,  and  they  were  filled  with 
dismay  at  the  announcement  that  no  trains  were  running.  In 
their  despair  they  prepared  to  leave  the  city  on  foot  by  cross- 
ing the  pontoon  bridge  and  marching  towards  the  Dutch  fron- 
tier. I  should  say  the  exodus  of  refugees  from  the  city  must 
have  totaled  200,000  men,  women  and  children  of  all  ages,  or 
very  nearly  that  vast  number,  out  of  a  population  which  in 
normal  times  is  321,800. 


320  FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

' 'I  now  return  to  tlie  events  of  Thursday,  October  8tli.  At 
12.30  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  bombardment  had  already 
lasted  over  twelve  hours,  through  the  courtesy  of  a  Belgian 
officer  I  was  able  to  ascend  to  the  roof  of  the  cathedral,  and 
from  that  point  of  vantage  I  looked  down  upon  the  scene  in 
the  city. 

*' All  the  southern  portion  of  Antwerp  appeared  to  be  deso- 
late ruin.  "Whole  streets  were  ablaze,  and  the  flames  were 
rising  to  a  height  of  twenty  and  thirty  feet. 

''From  my  elevated  position  I  had  an  excellent  view  also 
of  the  great  oil  tanks  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Scheldt.  They 
had  been  set  on  fire  by  four  bombs  from  a  German  Taube  aero- 
plane, and  a  huge  thick  volume  of  black  smoke  was  ascending 
two  hundred  feet  into  the  air.  It  was  like  a  bit  of  Gustave 
Dore's  idea  of  the  infernal  regions. 

CITY  ALMOST  DESERTED 

**The  city  by  this  time  was  almost  deserted,  and  no  attempt 
was  made  to  extinguish  the  fires  that  had  broken  out  all  over 
the  southern  district.  Indeed  there  were  no  means  of  dealing 
with  them.  For  ten  days  the  water  supply  from  the  reservoir 
ten  miles  outside  the  city  had  been  cut  off,  and  this  was  the 
city's  main  source  of  supply.  The  reservoir  was  just  behind 
Fort  Waelthen,  and  a  German  shell  had  struck  it,  doing  great 
mischief.  It  left  Antwerp  without  any  regular  inflow  of  water 
and  the  inhabitants  had  to  do  their  best  with  the  artesian  wells. 
Great  efforts  were  made  by  the  Belgians  from  time  to  tim^e  to 
repair  the  reservoir,  but  it  was  al\v  ays  thwarted  by  the  Ger- 
man shell  fire. 

KILLED  BEFORE  HIS  WIFE's  EYES 

' '  After  leaving  the  cathedral,  I  made  my  way  to  the  south- 
em  section  of  the  city,  where  shells  were  bursting  at  the  rate 
of  five  a  minute.  "With  great  difficulty,  and  not  withomt  risk, 
I  got  as  far  as  Rue  Lamoiere.  There  I  met  a  terror-stricken 
Belgian  woman,  the  only  other  person  in  the  streets  besides 
myself.  In  hysterical  gasps  she  told  me  that  the  Bank 
Nationale  and  Palais  de  Justice  had  been  struck  and  were  in 
flames,  and  that  her  husband  had  been  killed  just  five  minutes 
before  I  came  upon  the  scene.     His  mangled  remains  were 


FALL  OF  ANTWERP  321 

lying  not  one  hundred  yards  away  from  where  we  were 
standing. 

^ '  Except  for  the  lurid  glare  of  burning  buildings,  which  lit 
up  che  streets,  the  city  was  in  absolute  darkness,  and  near  the 
quay  I  lost  my  way  trying  to  get  to  the  Hotel  Wagner.  For 
the  second  time  that  day  I  narrowly  escaped  death  by  shell. 
One  burst  with  terrific  force  about  twenty-five  yards  from  me. 
I  heard  its  warning  whirr  and  rushed  into  a  neighboring  porch. 
Whether  it  was  from  the  concussion  of  the  shell  or  in  my 
anxiety  to  escape  I  caromed  against  the  door  and  tumbled 
down,  and  as  I  lay  on  the  ground  a  house  on  the  opposite  side 
crashed  in  ruins.  I  remained  still  for  several  minutes,  feeling 
quite  sick  and  unable  to  get  up.  Then  I  pulled  myself  together 
and  ran  at  full  speed  until  I  came  to  a  street  which  I  recognized. 

TAKE  REFUGE  IN  CELLAES 

"How  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Antwerp  remained  in 
the  city  that  night  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  they  were  all  in 
the  cellars  of  their  houses  or  shops.  The  Burgomaster,  M.  De 
Vos,  had  in  one  of  his  several  proclamations  made  many  sug- 
gestions for  safety  during  the  bombardment,  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  took  refuge  in  cellars.  Among  the  most  useful 
of  them,  perhaps,  was  that  which  recommended  means  of 
escape  to  an  adjoining  cellar.  The  power  of  modern  artil- 
lery is  so  tremendous  that  a  cellar  might  very  well  become  a 
tomb  if  a  shell  fell  on  the  building  overhead. 

''Sleep  was  impossible  that  night,  in  the  noise  caused  by 
the  explosion  of  shells  in  twenty  different  quarters  of  the 
town.  About  6  o'clock  I  was  told  that  it  was  time  we  got 
out,  as  the  Germans  were  entering  the  city.  We  hurried  from 
the  hotel  and  found  the  streets  completely  deserted.  I  walked 
down  to  the  quay-side,  and  there  I  came  across  many  wounded 
soldiers,  who  had  been  unable  to  get  away  in  the  hospital 
boat. 

**0n  the  quay  piles  of  equipment  had  been  abandoned.  A 
broken-down  motor-car,  kit-bags,  helmets,  rifles  and  knap- 
sacks were  littered  in  heaps.  Ammunition  had  been  dumped 
there  and  rendered  useless.  The  Belgians  had  evidently  at- 
tempted to  set  fire  to  the  whole  lot.  The  pile  of  stuff  was  still 
smoldering.    I  waited  there  for  half  an  hour,  and  during  that 


322  FALL  OF  ANTWERP 

time  hundreds  of  Belgian  soldiers  passed  in  the  retreat.  Just 
about  this  time  a  pontoon  bridge  which  had  been  the  means 
of  the  Belgian  retreat  was  blown  up  to  prevent  pursuit  by 
the  Germans. 

**  At  8  o'clock  a  shell  struck  the  Town  Hall,  and  about  8 :15 
another  shell  shattered  the  upper  story  and  broke  every  win- 
dow in  the  place. 

BUEGOMASTEE  PARLEYS  WITH  GEEMANS 

''That  was  the  German  way  of  telling  the  Burgomaster 
to  hurry  up.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  M.  De  Vos  went  out 
in  his  motor-car  toward  the  German  line  to  discuss  the  con- 
ditions on  which  the  city  should  be  surrendered. 

"At  9:30  o'clock  the  bombardment  of  the  city  suddenly 
ceased,  and  we  understood  that  the  Burgomaster  had  by  this 
time  reached  the  German  headquarters.  Still  we  waited,  pain- 
fully anxious  to  learn  what  would  be  the  ultimate  fate  of  Ant- 
werp. Belgian  soldiers  hurried  by  and  at  10:30  proclama- 
tions were  posted  on  the  walls  of  the  Town  Hall  urging  all  in 
the  city  to  surrender  any  arms  in  their  possession  and  begging 
all  to  remain  calm  in  the  event  of  the  Germans'  occupation. 
A  list  was  also  posted  of  several  prominent  citizens  who  were 
appointed  to  look  after  the  interests  of  those  Belgians  who 
remained. 

''The  'impregnable'  city  of  Antwerp  had  fallen,  but  with- 
out dishonor  to  its  gallant  defenders. ' ' 


GERMAN    MILITARY    GOVERNOR    OF    ANTWERP    APPOINTED GERMAN 

OFFICIAL  REPORTS 

On  October  10  Baron  von  der  Schutz  was  appointed  mili- 
tary governor  of  Antwerp.  It  was  expected  that  the  city 
would  become  the  base  for  Zeppelin  attacks  upon  England 
and  also  for  a  German  naval  campaign  in  which  mines  and 
submarines  would  play  an  important  part.  This  was  inti- 
mated in  dispatches  from  Berlin  following  the  German  occu- 
pation of  the  city. 

The  German  General  Staff,  in  announcing  the  capture, 
added  that  they  could  not  estimate  the  number  of  prisoners 
taken.  "We  took  enormous  quantities  of  supplies  of  all 
kinds,'*  said  the  official  statement. 


Top — Close  view  of  the  first  Handley-Page  bombing  aeroplane  built  In  America.  It 
Is  proposed  to  fly  these  planes  across  the  Atlantic  under  their  own  power,  drlvea  by  Twin 
Liberty  motors  of  400  H.  P.  each. 

Bottom — Submarines  of  United  States  Navy  at  base  in  am  Atlantic  port  awaltlnc 
orders  for  coast  defense  duty.      (.Copyright,  U.  d  U.) 


Above — African  troops  of  the  French  army  en  route  to  the  Riviera  to  enjoy  a 
well-earned  rest  after  the  battle  of  Douaumont,  in  which  their  ranks  were  consider- 
ablv  depleted.  These  colored  fiffhters  of  France  are  commanded  entirely  by  white 
officers  and  have  done  splendid  service.    ( Copyright.  U.  d-  U.)  .       ,  .     ■, 

Below — Colored  Canadians  imitating  the  Germans  that  they  captured  in  this  dug- 
out near  the  Canal  du  Nord,  as  they  put  up  their  hands  and  shouted  '  T^^rnprad  i 
{Canadian  Official  Photo,  from  U.  S.) 


'Kamerad !" 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS 

Typical  Precautions  Used  hy  tJie  German  Army — The 
Soldiers'  First-Aid  Outfit — System  in  Hospital  Ar- 
rangements— How  Prisoners  of  War  Are  Treated — 
Regulations  Are  Humane  and  Fair  to  All  Concerned. 

MODERN  armies  take  the  best  possible  care  of  their 
wounded  and  none  has  brought  this  department  of  war- 
fare to  greater  perfection  than  the  Germany  army.  One 
detail  of  this  work  shows  the  German  army  at  its  best. 

Every  soldier  has  sewn  under  a  comer  of  his  coat  a  strip 
of  rubber  cloth.  Under  this  strip  is  a  piece  of  antiseptic  gauze, 
a  strip  of  bandage  and  plaster  and  cloth  for  the  outer  bandage. 
This  cloth  bears  in  simple  pictures  directions  for  dressing 
every  sort  of  wound. 

When  a  soldier  is  wounded  either  he  or  some  comrade  rips 
open  this  package  and  applies  at  once  the  life  saving  dressing, 
which  will  last  at  any  rate  until  the  soldier  is  brought  to  a 
station,  where  the  first  scientific  attention  is  given. 

Through  this  simple  and  inexpensive  device  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  German  soldiers,  who  have  been  slightly 
wounded  in  battle,  have  returned  to  their  comrades  within  a 
few  days  completely  well  and  have  taken  their  places  in  the 
ranks  once  more.  Without  this  care  a  large  percentage  of  the 
wounds  would  become  inflamed,  as  has  been  the  case  with 
hundreds  of  wounded  French  prisonei's  captured  by  the  Ger- 
mans. 

The  ordinary  procedure  of  caring  for  the  wounded  in  the 
German  army  is  for  the  sanitary  corps,  which  is  well  provided 
Avith  stretchers  and  bandages,  to  gather  up  the  wounded  on  or 

323 


324       THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS 

near  the  firing  lines  and  bring  them  to  a  gathering  point  a 
little  way  behind  the  lines. 

Here  the  army  surgeons  are  ready  to  begin  work  at  once 
upon  the  most  urgent  cases.  They  are  assisted  by  members  of 
the  corps,  who  remove  the  temporary  bandages,  and  put  on 
dressings  which  will  last  until  the  soldier  reaches  a  hospital. 
Then  from  this  first  gathering  point  the  wounded  soldiers  are 
put  on  stretchers  in  Red  Cross  wagons  and  carried  to  the  field 
hospitals  a  few  miles  farther  back,  where  doctors  and  nurses 
are  at  work. 

HOSPITALS  IN  VILLAGE  CHURCHES 

These  hospitals  are  usually  established  in  village  churches 
or  town  halls.  One  room  is  cleared  and  arranged  for  an  operat- 
ing room,  where  bullets  and  pieces  of  shell  are  removed  and 
amputations  are  made  if  necessary. 

''I  have  just  visited  such  a  field  hospital,"  said  a  corre- 
spondent with  the  right  wing  of  the  German  army  in  France, 
writing  on  September  28.  ''It  was  in  a  Httle  whitewashed 
village  church  heated  by  a  stove.  Everywhere  were  white 
beds  made  of  straw  and  covered  with  sheets.  Perhaps  twenty 
wounded  were  here,  including  two  captured  Irishmen.  They 
lay  quite  still  when  the  army  doctor  ushered  us  in,  for  they 
were  too  seriously  wounded  to  pay  much  attention  to  any- 
thing. 

''Near  this  hospital  was  another  in  a  town  hall.  While  we 
were  there  a  consulting  surgeon  arrived  to  investigate  the 
condition  of  a  seriously  wounded  lieutenant,  whose  leg  might 
need  amputation.  Two  orderlies  put  the  patient  on  a  stretcher, 
and  he  was  taken  into  the  next  room  for  examination.  Later 
in  the  day  the  amputation  was  performed. 

MOVED   TO   HOSPITALS  IN   CITIES 

"From  these  little  field  hospitals,  as  soon  as  the  men  can 
be  moved,  they  are  taken  to  some  general  hospital  in  the  near- 
est large  city,  where  several  thousands  can  be  cared  for.  Such 
a  hospital  exists  in  this  neighborhood  in  the  building  of  a  nor- 
mal college,  where  every  corner  is  used  in  housing  wounded 
men. 

"I  made  a  quick  trip  through  this  building  and  the  memory 
of  it  is  oae  of  the  most  heartrending  pictures  I  have  of  the  war. 


THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS       325 

Boom  after  room  was  filled  with  the  victims  of  the  conflict. 
Every  man  was  seriously  wounded.  Some  had  suffered  ampu- 
tations and  the  heads  of  others  were  so  bandaged  that  no  fea- 
ture could  be  seen,  only  a  tube  to  the  nose  permitting  breathing. 

HOBROR  IN"  HOSPITAL  SIGHTS 

*'In  one  room  a  surgeon  had  a  soldier  on  the  operating 
table  and  was  pulling  pieces  of  shell  from  a  huge  hole  in  the 
inner  side  of  one  of  his  legs.  On  a  stretcher  on  the  floor,  wait- 
ing for  his  turn  to  come  under  the  surgeon's  care,  was  an 
officer.  His  face  was  covered  with  blood,  he  was  waving  his 
arms  mldly  and  gasping  for  air.  This  scene  left  an  impression 
of  the  utmost  horror  upon  me. 

''Slightly  wounded  soldiers,  whom  it  is  not  necessary  to 
leave  for  a  while  in  the  field  hospitals,  are  sent  directly  to 
these  larger  hospitals  and  thence,  after  a  short  convalescence, 
are  loaded  into  Red  Cross  trains  and  sent  home  for  recovery. 
Later  they  return  to  take  their  places  in  the  regiments.  Such 
trains  can  be  seen  daily  along  any  main  line  of  railroad.  In 
some  cases  freight  cars  with  straw  bedding  are  used. 

'  *  One  of  the  finest  examples  of  charity  given  during  the  war 
is  a  splendid  Red  Cross  train  entirely  equipped  as  a  modern 
hospital,  even  having  a  first  class  operating  room.  This  was 
given  to  the  German  army  by  the  citizens  of  Wilmersdorff,  who 
also  employed  an  excellent  surgeon.  Scores  of  lives  will  be 
saved  through  a  small  outlay  of  money. 

GRAVEYARDS  0]Sr  BATTLEFIELDS 

''Near  the  large  hospital  I  visited  was  a  graveyard  where 
there  were  scores  of  neatly  marked  fresh  graves,  each  bearing 
a  cross  or  tablet  with  the  name  of  the  soldier  and  his  regiment, 
division  and  corps  marked  on  it.  In  some  cases  comrades  had 
added  a  word  or  two  of  scripture.  The  deaths  are  too  numer- 
ous for  an  imposing  ceremony  at  each  burial,  but  for  every  one 
an  army  chaplain  reads  scripture  and  offers  a  short  prayer, 
while  a  few  comrades  stand  by  with  bared  heads. 

"The  identity  of  each  soldier  is  easily  determined  from  the 
name  plate  which  he  wears  in  a  little  leather  purse  suspended 
from  around  the  neck.  After  a  battle  these  plates  are  gath- 
ered from  the  dead  and  from  these  the  death  lists  are  made 


326       THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS 

out.  [It  was  said  that  after  tlie  battle  of  the  Marne  no  fewer 
than  68,000  of  these  name  plates  or  tags  were  found  collected 
in  one  place. — Ed.] 

* '  After  a  battle  where  the  deaths  mount  into  the  thousands 
some  field  will  be  shut  off  for  a  cemetery  and  there  the  bodies 
are  buried,  each  grave  receiving  some  kind  of  a  cross  wherever 
it  is  possible,  but  here  no  names  can  be  attached.  There  will 
be  many  homes  in  which  there  will  be  vacant  places  and  where 
it  will  not  even  be  known  where  the  absent  ones  are  buried. 

KAISER  INSISTS  ON  ENTERING 

''While  here  I  heard  a  touching  story  about  a  lieutenant 
who  was  dying  in  the  hospital,  while  the  Kaiser  was  inspect- 
ing it.  The  Kaiser  came  to  the  room  where  the  officer  lay  and 
the  attendants  asked  him  not  to  enter,  as  a  man  was  dying. 
The  Kaiser  immediately  pushed  his  way  in,  went  up  to  the  lieu- 
tenant, put  his  hand  on  the  officer's  shoulder,  and  said  in 
German:    'Hello,  here  I  am!' 

' '  The  lieutenant  began  murmuring  with  his  eyes  closed. 

*'  'I  have  been  dreaming  and  I  dreamed  that  my  Kaiser 
came  to  me,  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  and  spoke  to  me. ' 

"  'Open  your  eyes,'  said  the  Kaiser. 

' '  The  lieutenant  obeyed,  smiled  a  smile  of  recognition,  and 
then  closed  his  eyes  in  the  final  sleep. 

SURGEONS  WIN  IRON  CROSSES 

"So  far,  according  to  official  announcement,  there  have 
been  between  50,000  and  60,000  wounded  and  immediately  after 
a  great  battle  the  sanitary  corps  has  been  unable  to  cope 
quickly  enough  with  the  work,  but  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances the  provision  made  has  been  ample.  The  number  of 
the  sanitary  corps  was  determined  upon  the  experience  in  the 
Eusso-Japanese  war,  in  which  the  losses  were  by  no  means  so 
heavy  as  they  have  been  in  this  war,  but  where  in  a  few  cases 
numbers  have  been  lacking  the  surgeons  and  their  assistants 
have  put  forth  herculean  efforts.  Many  surgeons  are  now 
wearing  the  iron  cross  for  bravery,  winning  the  insignia  by 
dragging  out  wounded  from  the  rain  of  bullets. 


THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS       327 

TEEATMENT  OF  PRISOKERS  OF  WAR 

The  prisoner  of  war  has  been  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
news  that  has  come  from  the  seething  caldron  of  Europe. 
Many  thousands  of  prisoners  have  been  taken  from  the  con- 
tending armies  by  their  adversaries.  For  them  the  average 
American  reader,  perusing  "war  news"  in  the  comfort  of  his 
security  from  the  great  conflict,  has  felt  perhaps  a  grain  of 
sorrow  and  wondered  vaguely  what  horrors  befell  them  after 
capture. 

Early  in  September  the  German  war  department  sent 
broadcast  a  statement  that  30,000  Eussians  had  been  taken 
prisoners  by  the  German  soldiers  after  heavy  battles  in  East 
Prussia,  particularly  around  Ortelsburg,  Hohenstein  and  Tan- 
nenburg.  The  statement  mentioned  the  fact  that  among  the 
prisoners  were  many  Eussian  officers  of  high  rank. 

"What  is  done  with  these  prisoners,  how  they  are  handled 
and  treated  and  whether  high  officials  are  punished  more 
severely  than  mere  privates,  are  questions  frequently  asked 
and  seldom  answered,  for  the  procedure  followed  in  such  mat- 
ters is  but  little  known. 

REGULATIONS  ARE  HUMANE  TO  ALL 

The  international  laws  of  warfare,  embodied  in  The  Hague 
conventions,  the  Geneva  convention  and  the  declaration  of 
London,  contain  provisions  that  provide  expressly  what  man- 
ner of  treatment  shall  be  accorded  prisoners  of  hostile  nations 
who  are  taken  in  battle.  If  these  provisions  of  international 
law  are  lived  up  to,  the  lot  of  the  prisoner  of  war  is  not  so  hard 
as  many  people  have  been  led  to  believe. 

After  the  first  year  of  the  war,  however,  stories  of  ill- 
treatment  of  prisoners  in  German  prison  camps  began  to  be 
told,  and  before  long  there  were  many  well-authenticated 
cases  of  the  kind.  Inhuman  treatment  was  reported  by  Eng- 
lish and  Canadian  prisoners,  and  protests  were  duly  made  by 
the  British  government  through  neutral  channels.  The  grow- 
ing shortage  of  food  in  Germany  was  alleged  as  the  cause  of 
some  of  the  complaints,  but  cases  of  actual  brutality,  involv- 
ing cowardly  physical  abuse  and  even  killing  were  also  re- 
ported. The  nation  which  captures  its  enemy's  soldiers 
and  makes  prisoners  of  them  is  held  entirely  responsible 


828       THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS 

for  whatever  happens  and  shoulders  at  once  a  responsibility 
that  is  commensurate  with  the  number  of  prisoners  who  are 
taken  and  detained. 

The  law  of  warfare  says  that  a  prisoner  must  be  as  fair 
with  his  captors  as  they  are  with  him.  He  must  be  ' '  humanely 
treated,"  so  it  is  prescribed,  and  when  he  is  questioned  by  his 
captors  he  must  give  his  true  name  and  the  rank  he  holds  in 
the  army  which  has  been  defeated  and  of  which  he  was  once  a 
part.  Contrary  to  general  belief,  he  is  not  stripped  of '  *  every- 
thing" and  thrown  into  a  dungeon  and  fed  on  a  crust  of  bread 
and  a  mug  of  stale  water.  His  captors  do  not  deprive  him  of 
his  personal  possessions,  except  weapons,  horses  and  military 
papers. 

Furthermore,  they  must  give  him  complete  religious  lib- 
erty, and  it  is  specifically  decreed  that  he  must  be  given  oppor- 
tunity to  attend  a  church  of  the  denomination  to  which  he 
belongs.  And  there  he  may  pray  as  much  for  the  success  of 
his  own  nation  or  the  much-desired  rehef  from  Retention  as 
the  state  of  his  mind  dictates. 

PRISONERS  MAY  BE  CONFINED 

The  prisoner  of  war  may  be  interned  in  a  town  br  a  fort,  or 
even  a  camp,  according  to  the  convenience  of  his  captors,  but 
the  enemy  may  not  confine  him,  except,  the  law  says,  as  '*an 
indispensable  measure  of  safety,"  and  then  only  as  long  as 
the  circiunstances  make  it  necessary.  Of  course  the  law  gives 
the  commanding  officer  considerable  leeway  in  such  matters, 
for  he  is  left  to  determine  when  the  **indispefisaBle"  occasion 
arises. 

At  other  times  when  the  prisoner  is  at  liberty^  He  is  subject 
to  all  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  army  of  the  government 
that  captured  him,  and  if  he  refuses  to  obey  the  rules  or  acts 
in  an  insubordinate  manner  toward  the  officers  in  command, 
he  may  be  punished  and  disciplined  according  to  his  offense. 
And  here  it  is  again  left  to  the  discretion  of  his  ^ptors  as  to 
;what  measure  of  punishment  shall  be  inflicted  upon  hinu 

ATTEMPTS  AT  ESCAPE 

If  a  prisoner  of  war  attempts  to  escape  and  his  <^ptors  are 
vigilant  to  the  extent  of  retaking  him  before  he  leaves  the  ter- 
ritory they  occupy,  or  before  he  has  a  diance  to  rejoin  his  own 


THE  WOUNDED  AND  PBISONERS       329 

army,  lie  may  be  severely  punished.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he 
elndes  his  captors  and  makes  a  clean  getaway  and  his  army 
is  again  unfortunate,  and  he  is  captured  the  second  time,  the 
perfectly  good  escape  from  previous  captivity  must  go  unpim- 
ished  and  he  must  be  treated  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  just  as 
though  he  had  not  made  the  successful  dash  for  liberty  and 
further  glory. 

The  government  th^t  holds  prisoners  of  war  is  chargeable 
with  their  maintenance  and  must  provide  them  with  food,  cloth- 
ing and  shelter  as  good  as  that  provided  for  its  own  troops. 
The  officers  of  the  captors  are  required  to  keep  records  of  all 
the  prisoners  under  their  charge,  and  if  relief  societies,  which 
have  been  extensively  formed  by  the  women  of  Europe  and 
many  American  women  as  well,  wish  to  minister  to  their  needs 
and  comforts,  the  officers  m  command  must  afford  them  every 
possible  facility.  And  if  the  friends  of  prisoners  or  the  wel- 
fare societies  see  fit  to  send  them  presents  and  clothing,  medi- 
cine and  other  necessities,  such  goods  must  be  admitted  to  them 
free  of  any  war  duty  that  might  be  imposed  by  the  nation 
holding  them,  and  the  railroads  owned  by  the  government  are 
bound  to  carry  such  supplies  free  of  transportation  charges. 

CAPTIVES  MUST  BE  PAID  FOR  WORK 

Prisoners  of  war  may  be  put  to  work  by  the  government 
that  captures  them  and  the  duties  must  be  assigned  with  a  view 
to  their  aptitude,  fitness  and  rank.  The  tasks  must  not  be 
unduly  severe,  so  as  to  border  on  cruelty,  and  they  must  have 
no  bearing  whatever  on  the  operations  of  the  war.  The  prison- 
ers must  be  paid  for  the  work  they  do,  moreover,  at  a  rate  equal 
to  that  being  paid  to  the  soldiers  of  the  national  army,  and 
prisoners  may  be  authorized  to  work  for  the  public  service, 
for  private  persons  or  on  th§ir  own  account. 

The  wages  of  these  prisoners,  the  law  says,  must  go  toward 
improving  their  condition,  and  the  balance  must  be  paid  them 
after  their  release,  with  the  proper  deduction  for  their  board 
and  keep.  AVhen  officers  of  hostile  armies  who  are  captured 
are  put  to  work  they  must  get  the  same  wage  rate  as  is  paid  to 
the  corresponding  officers  of  the  government  whose  captives 
they  are.  All  these  moneys  must  be  ultimately  refunded  by 
their  own  governments  to  their  captors  after  the  war  is  over. 


330       THE  WOUNDED  AND  PRISONERS 

peace  is  declared  and  the  intricate  problems  of  indemnities 
come  up  for  solution. 

A  prisoner  of  war  may  even  be  paroled  by  his  captors,  and 
this  is  done  sometimes  when  he  is  disabled  or  there  are  circum- 
stances tl  at  prompt  his  enemies  to  let  him  go  to  those  who  are 
near  and  dear  to  him.  When  parole  is  granted  to  a  prisoner 
he  makes  a  solemn  pledge  and  promise  that  he  will  live  up  to 
the  terms  under  which  he  is  released,  and  even  his  own  nation 
may  not  ask  him  to  perform  a  service  that  is  inconsistent  with 
that  pledge. 

BREAKER  OF  A  PAROLE 

It  goes  hard  mth  the  prisoner  on  parole  who  is  caught 
fighting  against  the  nation  that  released  him,  for  he  is  not 
entitled  to  be  treated  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  the  judgment 
meted  out  to  him  is  as  terrible  as  it  is  sure.  Certain  codes  of 
honor  are  supposed  to  be  observed  even  in  international  war- 
fare, and  a  soldier  who  breaks  his  word  of  honor  is  considered 
the  most  despicable  of  men. 


CHAPTER  XXr 
HOEROES  OF  THE  WAR 

American  Relief  for  War-Stricken  Peoples  of  Europe — MU-^ 
lions  of  Dollars  Contributed  in  Cash  and  Gifts — Canadd 
Aids  the  Belgians — Devastation  of  Poland  Even  Greateri 
and  More  Terrible  tha/n  that  of  Belgium. 

SOON  after  the  world  became  aware  of  the  fact  that  the 
German  army's  progress  through  Belgium  on  its  dash  to 

Paris  in  August  of  1914  had  resulted  in  the  absolute  dev- 
astation of  the  little  buffer  state,  an  enterprising  and  sympa- 
thetic American  citizen,  Mr.  James  Keeley,  editor  of  the 
Chicago  Herald,  penned  a  remarkable  open  letter  *' to  the  Chil- 
dren of  America,"  in  which  he  suggested  the  sending  of  a 
"Christmas  ship"  to  Europe,  filled  with  gifts  of  a  useful  char- 
acter for  the  little  ones  of  all  the  belligerent  nations.  The 
response  was  immediate  and  most  truly  generous.  Newspa- 
pers and  civic  organizations  all  over  the  United  States  joined 
in  gathering  from  young  and  old  the  contributions  that 
freighted  a  United  States  warship  with  a  cargo  of  gifts  worth 
over  two  million  dollars,  and  at  Yuletide  these  gifts  were  sys- 
tematically distributed  among  the  innocent  victims  of  the 
war  in  all  the  countries  concerned. 

The  idea  of  the  Christmas  ship  was  nobly  conceived  and 
splendidly  executed.  Eulers  of  the  belligerent  nations  recog- 
nized the  beauty  of  the  idea  and  paused  awhile  in  their  martial 
activities  to  welcome  and  thank  the  American  commissioner 
who  enacted  the  role  of  an  international  Santa  Claus.  But 
the  -slaughter  on  the  fighting  lines  of  eastern  and  western 
Eurojte  went  on  unabated  and  the  peaceful  symbolism  of  the 
Christmas  ship  was  soon  forgotten  in  the  daily  recurrence  of 
battle  and  bloodshed. 

331 


332  HORRORS  OF  THE  WAR 

AWFUL  CONDITIONS  IN  POLAND 

While  the  frightful  state  of  Belgium  commanded  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  civilized  world  in  the  winter  of  1914-15,  the  condi- 
tions in  Poland  were  even  worse.  At  the  end  of  March  the 
great  Polish  pianist,  Ignace  Paderewski,  paid  a  visit  to  London 
on  behalf  of  the  suffering  Poles  and  his  efforts  resulted  in  the 
formation  of  an  influential  relief  committee.  Among  the 
members  were  such  men  as  Premier  Asquith,  ex-Premier  Bal- 
four, Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  Lloyd-George,  Cardinal 
Bourne,  archbishop  of  Westminster;  Admiral  Lord  Charles 
Beresford  and  the  Eussian  and  French  ambassadors.  An 
American  woman,  Lady  Eandolph  Churchill,  also  took  an 
active  part  in  the  work  of  the  committee,  which  soon  succeeded 
in  raising  a  large  sum  for  the  rehef  of  the  most  urgent  distress 
in  Poland.  While  in  London  on  his  mission  of  mercy,  Mr. 
Paderewski  said : 

"  Is  it  the  death  agony  or  only  the  birth  pangs  ?  That  is  the 
question  which  every  Pole  throughout  the  world  is  asking  him- 
self as  tragedy  follows  tragedy  in  the  long  martyrdom  of  our 
beloved  nation.  You  have  only  heard  the  details  of  Belgium, 
but  I  tell  you  they  are  as  nothing  with  what  has  happened  in 
Poland. 

' '  The  scene  of  operations  in  Poland  is  seven  times  larger 
than  that  of  Belgium,  and  she  has  had  to  endure  seven  times 
the  torture.  Remember,  the  battle  of  Europe  is  being  fought 
in  the  east,  not  in  the  west,  and  while  the  tide  of  battle  has 
reached  a  sort  of  ebb  along  the  trenches  about  the  frontiers  of 
Alsace  and  Flanders,  the  great  waves  roll  backward  and  for- 
ward from  Germany  to  Russia  and  break  always  on  Poland. 

"Our  country,  in  fact,  is  just  as  Belgium  was  called — the 
cockpit  of  Europe,  and  it  may  now  be  called  the  battlefield  of 
the  world,  if  not  of  civilization. 

* '  It  is  only  perhaps  we  Poles  who  have  known  to  its  utmost 
depths  what  this  war  has  really  meant.  It  is  not  only  that 
there  are  10,000,000  human  beings  on  the  verge  of  starvation, 
nay,  actually  perishing;  there  is  worse  than  that. 

''Remember  that  both  Belgium  and  Poland  are  still  under 
the  yoke.  The  Russians,  it  is  true,  occupy  some  fifteen  thou- 
sand miles  of  our  country,  but  this  is  really  nothing,  for  the 


HORRORS  OF  THE  WAR  333 

Germans  occupy  five-sixths  of  it,  and  the  desolation  passes  all 
comprehension. 

CALLS  IT  COMPULSOKY  SUICIDE 

*'As  to  actual  battles,  I  can  hardly  speak  of  them.  It  is 
torture  even  to  think  of  them.  Only  consider !  Our  one  nation 
is  divided  as  it  were  into  three  sections,  which  were  thrust  each 
against  the  others  to  work  out  their  destruction.  It  is  parri- 
cide !  It  is  fratricide,  nay  suicide !  Compulsory  suicide !  That 
is  what  it  is ! 

*' Listen  to  what  it  means  to  us  all.  I  was  told  by  a  man 
from  Austria  that  an  army  doctor,  a  Pole  by  birth,  who  was 
deputed  to  go  over  the  Austrian  battlefields  and  verify  identi- 
fication marks  on  the  bodies,  found  among  the  14,000  dead 
hardly  any  but  Pohsh  names.  He  looked  in  vain  for  any  others, 
and  in  the  end  went  mad  with  horror  at  the  thought  of  it.  An- 
other story  that  came  to  me  the  other  day  told  of  another  case 
of  the  tragedy  of  Poland  which  is  almost  too  terrible  for  the 
human  mind  to  contain.  The  incident  took  place  during  a 
charge.  Both  armies  had  been  ordered  to  attack,  and  the  Poles, 
as  usual,  were  in  the  front  lines.  As  they  met  in  the  shock 
they  recognized  each  other. 

'-  *  One  poor  fellow,  as  he  was  struck  through  by  a  bayonet, 
cried  out  in  his  death  agony,  *  Jesu  Maria !  I  have  five  children ! 
Jesu  Maria ! '  The  words  went  as  straight  to  the  brain  of  his 
conqueror  as  a  dagger  to  the  heart,  and  killed  his  reason.  Some- 
where among  the  madhouses  of  Europe  there  is  a  lunatic.  He 
is  not  violent,  but  he  never  laughs.  He  only  wanders  about 
with  the  words  of  his  dying  victim,  'Ah,  Jesu  Maria!  I  have 
five  children.    Jesu  Maria ! ' 

''The  promise  of  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  that  Poland  shall 
be  a  nation  once  again  went  straight  to  the  very  heart  of  every 
one  of  our  25,000,000  fellow  countrymen.  That  one  promise 
has  been  suificient  to  change  the  whole  mentality  of  the  nation  * 
and  fill  their  souls  with  new  hope.  It  has  cleared  up  any  doubt 
that  might  have  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  Poles  in  Austria  and 
Pi  ussia  as  to  what  it  is  that  the  allies  are  fighting  for — namely : 
the  principles  of  nationality  for  which  we  have  suffered,  ah ! 
how  many  centuries  I " 


334  HORRORS  OF  THE  WAR 

MILLIONS  OF  POLES  DESTITUTE 

The  ruin  wrought  by  war  in  Belgium  affected  7,000,000 
people.  In  Poland  more  than  twice  that  number  have  been 
rendered  destitute.  Not  less  than  15,000  villages  have  been 
laid  waste,  burned,  or  damaged  in  Russian  Poland  alone.  The 
loss  in  property  has  been  estimated  at  $500,000,000,  but  may 
reach  double  that  sum. 

In  Galieia  the  conditions  are  reported  to  be  equally  ap- 
palling, though  the  smashup  has  not  been  as  complete,  because 
the  Russians  have  been  able  to  maintain  their  positions  more 
permanently  than  they  have  in  the  district  west  and  northeast 
of  the  Polish  capital. 

The  greater  part  of  Poland  lying  in  a  broad  sweep  of  coun- 
try west,  southwest  and  northeast  of  Warsaw  has  been  swept 
over  and  battered  to  pieces  by  shot  and  shell  like  the  strip  of 
Flanders  on  both  sides  of  the  Yser  river. 

Without  any  direct  interest  in  the  present  great  conflict, 
the  unhappy  Poles  found  themselves  impressed  into  the  armies 
of  these  three  great  powers  and  fighting  against  their  own 
racial  brethren.  That  meant  that  brother  was  to  fight  against 
brother,  and  as  the  stress  of  the  war  increased  and  the  age  limit 
was  raised  to  38  years  and  even  higher,  nearly  every  able- 
bodied  Pole  was  impressed  into  service. 

Almost  the  first  move  of  the  Russians  at  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities  was  to  invade  Galieia.  This  brought  with  it  instantly 
all  the  most  frightful  horrors  of  war.  Embracing  as  it  does 
a  large  part  of  the  grain-growing  district  of  the  Polish  peoples, 
the  devastation  of  Galieia  meant  suffering  for  not  only  that 
province,  but  for  Russian  Poland  as  well.  The  crops  had  only 
been  partially  harvested  by  August,  when  the  war  began. 

The  panic  of  war  stopped  the  work  in  the  fields,  even  where 
the  peasants  were  not  compelled  to  flee  before  the  invader. 
The  men  were  called  to  the  colors  and  the  crops  were  allowed 
to  rot  in  the  fields.    Numerous  towns  were  sacked. 

The  advance  to  Lemberg  by  the  Russians  was  swift.    In  the 
panic  that  followed  this  great  city  of  200,000  had  scarcely  70,000 
left  when  the  invaders  took  possession.    Families  were  broken 
up ;  none  of  the  refugees  had  time  to  take  supplies  or  clothes, 
V       Germany's  first  move  against  Russia  came  from  the  great 


HORRORS  OF  THE  WAR  335 

fortresses  along  the  Oder  and  Vistula.  All  of  western  Poland 
was  overrun.  When  the  Russian  advance  from  Warsaw  drove 
hack  the  invaders,  the  scars  of  the  conflict  left  this  section  of 
Poland  badly  battered.  Then  came  Von  Hindenburg's  vic- 
torious armies,  and  again  this  section  was  torn  by  shot  and 
shell  and  wasted.  While  some  of  the  larger  places,  such  as 
Lodz,  Plock,  Lowicz,  Tchenstochow  and  Petrokov,  were  spared, 
the  smaller  towns,  villages,  and  hamlets  in  the  direct  line  of 
battle  suffered  equally  from  the  defenders  and  invaders. 

All  the  section  to  the  northeast  of  Warsaw  between  the 
East  Prussian  frontier  and  the  Bug,  Narew,  and  Niemen 
rivers  has  suffered  even  a  worse  fate,  as  the  bitterness  en- 
gendered by  the  devastation  worked  by  the  Russians  in  East 
Prussia  led  to  reprisals  that  not  even  the  strict  discipline  of 
the  German  army  could  curb.  Not  only  were  the  peasants' 
homes  pounded  to  bits  by  the  opposing  artillery  fire,  but  the 
armies  as  they  fought  back  and  forth  took  all  the  cattle,  horses, 
and  stock  that  came  to  their  hands.  Disease  added  to  the 
suffering  of  the  stricken  people. 


THOUSANDS  OF  VILLAGES  DESTROYED 

Henry  SienMewicz,  the  great  Polish  writer  and  author  of 
''Quo  Vadis,"  a  refugee  in  Switzerland,  said,  on  March  15, 
1915: 

*'In  the  kingdom  of  Poland  alone  there  are  15,000  villages 
burned  or  damaged;  a  thousand  churches  and  chapels  de- 
stroyed. The  homeless  villagers  have  sought  shelter  in  the 
forests,  where  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  women  and 
children  are  dying  from  cold  and  hunger  by  thousands  daily. 

**  Poland  comprises  127,500  square  kilometers.  One  hun- 
dred thousand  of  these  have  been  devastated  by  the  battling 
armies.  More  than  a  million  horses  and  two  million  head  of 
homed  cattle  have  been  seized  by  the  invaders,  and  in  the 
whole  of  the  100,000  square  kilometers  in  the  possession  of  the 
soldiers  not  a  grain  of  corn,  not  a  scrap  of  meat,  nor  a  drop  of 
milk  remain  for  the  civil  population. 


336  HORRORS  OF  THE  WAR 

**The  material  losses  up  to  the  present  are  estimated  at 
1,000,000,000  rubles  ($500,000,000).  No  fewer  than  400,000 
workmen  have  lost  their  means  of  iivelinood. 

* '  The  state  of  things  in  Galicia  is  just  as  dreadful  for  the 
civil  population — innocent  victims  of  the  war.  Of  75,000  square 
kilometers  all  except  5,000  square  kilometers  around  Cracow 
are  in  possession  of  the  Russians.  They  conunandeered  900,- 
000  horses  and  about  200,000  head  of  horned  cattle  and  seized 
all  the  grain,  part  of  the  salt  fields,  and  the  oil  wells. 

''The  once  rich  province  is  a  desert.  Over  a  million  inhab- 
itants have  sought  refuge  in  other  parts  of  Austria,  and  they 
are  in  sheer  destitution." 

Truly/ 'War  is  heU!" 

RELIEF  FOR  BELGIAN   SUFFERERS 

Following  the  invasion  and  over-running  of  Belgium  by 
the  Germans,  the  problem  of  feeding  the  Belgian  population 
became  an  urgent  one.  The  invaders  left  the  problem  largely 
to  the  charitable  sympathies  of  the  civilized  world,  and  from 
almost  every  quarter  of  the  globe  aid  was  sent  in  money  or 
provisions  for  the  stricken  people.  In  spite  of  the  enormous 
war  drains  upon  the  resources  of  the  British  Empire,  every 
one  of  the  Overseas  Dominions  did  its  full  share  in  Belgian 
relief,  while  the  United  States,  through  the  Rockefeller  Foun- 
dation and  other  agencies,  as  well  as  the  South  American 
countries,  also  contributed  to  alleviate  the  suifering  in  the 
little  kingdom.  The  contributions  continued  during  more  than 
two  years  and  the  relief  was  administered  most  efficiently 
by  means  of  commissions. 

RELIEF  ASKED  FOR  SERBLi. 

On  April  3,  1915,  the  leading  United  States  newspapers 
printed  an  appeal  received  from  Nish,  the  war  capital  of  Ser- 
bia, which  set  forth  a  terrible  situation  in  terms  that  con- 
firmed a  report  already  made  pubhc  by  Sir  Thomas  Lipton, 
who  dedicated  his  famous  steam  yacht,  the  Erin,  as  a  hos- 
pital ship  for  use  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  visited  Serbia 
in  February  and  March.  The  appeal  was  dated  February  23 
and  said  in  substance  as  follows : 

"Typhus  is  raging  in  Serbia,  and  unless  immediate  aid  be 
sent  the  mortality  will  be  appalling. 


HORRORS  OF  THE  WAR  337 

**  Typhus  is  a  filth  disease  and  is  spread  by  lice,  which 
flourish  only  in  dirt.  There  are  not  enough  buildings  to  house 
the  sick  and  they  lie  huddled  together  on  dirty  straw. 

**They  have  not  changed  their  clothes  for  six  months,  and 
consequently  personal  cleanliness,  which  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial in  checking  the  disease,  is  impossible.  They  cannot  get 
proper  nourishment,  as  there  is  not  enough  available,  nor  is 
there  money  to  buy  it  if  it  were. 

'  *  The  doctors  can  usually  only  work  for  two  weeks  before 
contracting  the  disease,  as  they  have  no  means  of  protecting 
themselves.  Yet  they  volunteer  for  typhus  hospitals,  know- 
ing that  they  are  probably  going  to  their  death,  for  the  mor- 
tality is  over  50  per  cent. 

**The  following  four  things  are  most  urgently  needed: 

* '  1.  Tents  and  portable  chicken  runs,  as  these  make  excel- 
lent houses.  There  is  no  lumber  in  Serbia,  so  nothing  can  be 
built  here. 

*'2.  Beds  and  bed  linen.  It  is  impossible  to  keep  straw 
free  from  lice. 

"3.  Underclothing.  Dirty  clothes  make  an  ideal  breeding 
place  for  lice. 

**4.  Disinfectants  and  whitewash. 

** Speedy  help  is  essential,  as  every  day's  delay  costs  hun- 
idreds  of  lives.  *  * 

The  response  to  this  touching  appeal  was  immediate  and 
generous,  Germans  and  Austrians  in  America  contributing 
freely.  A  large  amount  of  cash  and  supplies  for  the  Austrian 
prisoners  was  sent  to  the  American  consul  at  Nish,  who  was 
also  acting  consul  for  Germany  and  Austria  in  Serbia. 

GERMAN  EEPOKT  OF  VILLAGES  EAZED 

A  dispatch  from  Berlin  by  wireless  March  23  stated  that 
according  to  a  report  received  there  from  Cracow,  the  damages 
due  to  the  war  in  Poland  and  Galicia  at  that  time  amounted 
to  5,000,000,000  marks  ($1,250,000,000). 

In  Galicia  100  cities  and  market  places  and  6,000  villages 
had  been  more  or  less  damaged,  while  250  villages  had  been 
destroyed.  Horses  to  the  number  of  800,000  and  500,000  head 
of  cattle,  with  all  grain  and  other  provisions  in  Galicia  had 
been  taken  away  by  the  Russians. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

Results  of  the  Battle  of  the  Aisne — Fierce  Fighting  in  North- 
em  France — Developments  on  the  Eastern  Battle  Front 
— The  Campaign  in  the  Pacific — Naval  Activities  of  the 
Powers. 

WITH  a  battle  front  reachmg  from  the  Belgian  coast  on 
the  North  Sea  to  the  frontier  of  Switzerland,  or  a  total 
distance  of  362  miles,  the  operations  in  the  western 
theater  of  war  toward  the  end  of  October  were  being  con- 
ducted on  a  more  gigantic  scale  than  was  ever  witnessed 
before.  On  both  sides  reinforcements  were  being  rushed  to 
the  front.  German  efforts  to  break  through  the  Allies'  lines 
were  concentrated  on  the  main  center  at  Verdun  and  on  the 
right  flank  of  the  Allies'  left  wing,  above  its  elbow,  between 
Noyon  and  Arras,  while  powerful  coincidal  movements  were  in 
progress  on  the  extreme  western  end  of  the  line  in  Belgium 
and  on  the  southeastern  wing  in  Alsace.  At  Verdun  con- 
tinuous fighting  of  the  fiercest  character  had  been  going  on 
for  over  sixty  days,  surpassing  in  time  and  severity  any  in- 
dividual battle  in  history.  The  army  of  the  Crown  Prince  had 
been  unable  to  force  the  French  positions  in  the  vicinity  of 
Verdun  and  the  check  sustained  by  the  Germans  at  this  point 
early  in  the  campaign  constituted  a  principal  cause  of  General 
von  Kluck  's  failure  in  his  dash  toward  Paris. 

All  along  the  tremendous  battle  front  the  allies '  lines  as  a 
rule  held  firm  in  the  thirteenth  week  of  the  war,  when  the 
great  conflict  had  entered  upon  what  may  w^ell  be  called  its 
fourth  stage.  The  third  stage  may  be  said  to  have  ended  with 
the  fall  of  Antwerp  and  the  subjugation  of  all  Belgium  but  a 
small  portion  of  its  southwestern  territory.  On  the  main  front 
the  Allies  were  maintaining  the  offensive  at  some  vital  points, 
while  repulsing  the  German  assaults  at  others.    One  or  two 

338 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  339 

of  the  French  forts  commanding  Verdun  had  fallen  but  the 
main  positions  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  and  all 
along  the  line  it  was  a  case  of  daily  give-and-take. 

FIERCE  FIGHTING  IN  FLANDEKS 

After  capturing  Antwerp  the  Germans  pushed  on  to 
Ostend,  an  "open"  or  unfortified  town,  and  occupied  it  with 
slight  resistance  from  the  Belgian  army,  which  was  reforming 
its  broken  ranks  to  the  south,  between  Ostend  and  the  French 
frontier,  and  preparing  to  contest  the  passage  of  the  Kaiser's 
forces  across  the  Eiver  Yser.  Moving  northward  from  Lille, 
the  Allies  encountered  the  Germans  at  Armentieres,  which 
was  occupied  by  a  Franco-British  force  and  there  was  also 
fierce  fighting  at  Ypres,  where  there  is  a  canal  to  the  sea.  For 
more  than  a  week  the  Belgians  gallantly  held  the  banks  of  the 
Yser  in  spite  of  the  utmost  endeavors  of  the  Germans  to  cross, 
and  it  was  not  until  October  24  that  the  latter  finally  succeeded 
in  getting  south  of  the  river,  with  the  French  seaport  of 
Dunkirk  as  their  next  objective  point.  Bloody  engagements 
were  fought  at  Nieuport,  Dixmude,  Deynze  and  La  Bassee. 

At  this  time  the  battle  line  formed  almost  a  perpendicular 
from  Noyon  in  France  north  to  the  Belgian  coast,  south  of 
Ostend.  A  battle  raged  for  several  days  in  West  Flanders  and 
Northern  France  and  both  sides  claimed  successes.  The 
losses  of  the  Allies  and  the  Germans  were  estimated  in  the 
thousands  and  the  wounded  were  sent  back  to  the  rear  by  the 
trainful.  In  the  Flemish  territory  the  flat  nature  of  the  terrain, 
with  its  numerous  canals  and  almost  total  absence  of  natural 
cover,  made  the  losses  especially  severe.  The  passage  of  the 
Yser  cost  the  Germans  dearly  and  Dixmude  was  strewn  with 
their  dead.    And  their  advance  could  get  no  farther. 

The  necessity  of  holding  the  French  ports,  Dunkirk  and 
Calais,  was  fully  realized  by  the  Allies,  who  threw  large  rein- 
forcements into  their  northern  line.  The  Germans  also  drew 
heavily  on  their  center  and  left  wing  to  reinforce  the  right,  and 
for  a  while  the  forces  opposing  one  another  at  the  extreme 
western  end  of  the  battle  front  were  greater  than  at  any  other 
point.  The  Germans  were  firmly  held  on  a  line  running  from 
south  of  Ostend  to  Thourout,  Eoulers  and  Menin,  the  last 
mentioned  place  being  on  the  border  north  of  Lille.  Flanking 
attacks  being  no  longer  possible,  as  the  western  flanks  of  both 


340  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

armies  rested  on  the  North  Sea,  the  Germans  were  compelled 
to  make  a  frontal  assault  along  the  line  formed  by  the  Belgian 
frontier.  As  the  Belgian  troops,  assisted  by  a  British  naval 
brigade,  were  pushed  back  from  the  Yser,  they  were  gradually 
merged  into  the  army  of  the  allies,  by  whom  they  were  re- 
ceived with  the  honors  due  the  men  who  had  made,  for  twelve 
long  weeks,  such  a  gallant  and  determined  defense  of  their 
country  against  invasion  and  despoilment. 

BKITISH  WAESHIPS  AID  BELGIANS 

Soon  after  the  German  occupation  of  Ostend,  several  Brit- 
ish warships  shelled  the  German  positions  in  and  around  the 
city  and  aided  in  hampering  the  German  advance  along  the 
coast.  The  principal  vessels  engaged  in  this  work  were  three 
monitors  which  were  being  completed  in  England  for  the 
Brazilian  government  when  the  war  started  and  which  were 
bought  by  the  admiralty. 

These  monitors,  which  had  been  renamed  Mersey,  Humber 
and  Severn,  drew  less  than  nine  feet  of  water  and  could  take 
up  positions  not  far  from  shore,  from  which  their  6-inch  guns 
and  4.7-inch  howitzers,  of  which  each  vessel  carried  two,  were 
able  to  throw  shells  nearly  four  miles  across  country,  the  range 
being  given  them  by  airmen. 

French  warships  of  light  draft  later  joined  the  British 
monitors  and  destroyers  and  assisted  in  patrolling  the  coast, 
shelling  German  positions  wherever  the  latter  could  be  discov- 
ered by  the  aeroplane  scouts.  One  reported  feat  of  the  naval 
fire  was  the  destruction  of  the  headquarters  of  a  German  gen- 
eral. Von  Trip,  in  which  the  general  and  his  staff  lost  their 
lives. 

From  time  to  time  German  aerial  attacks  were  made  in 
the  vicinity  of  Dover,  across  the  Straits,  but  these  mthout 
exception  proved  to  be  without  military  importance  in  their 
results.  Steps  were  taken  to  organize  anti-aircraft  artillery 
forces  on  the  eastern  coast  of  England  and  the  continued 
failure  of  Zeppelin  attacks,  annoying  as  they  were,  soon 
restored  the  equanimity  of  the  British  public  in  this  respect. 

INDIAN  TROOPS  IN  ACTION 

The  first  word  of  the  employment  of  British  Indian  troops 
at  the  front  came  on  October  27,  when  it  was  reported  that  in 
the  fighting  near  Lille  a  reserve  force  of  Sikhs  and  Ghurkas, 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

the  former  with  bayonets  and  the  latter  with  the  kukri  (a 
short,  curved  sword)  played  havoc  with  an  attacking  force  of 
Germans.  ''Never  has  there  been  such  slaughter,"  said  the 
dispatches.  "Twenty  thousand  German  dead  and  wounded, 
nearly  half  the  attacking  force,  lay  upon  the  field,  while  the 
British  losses  did  not  exceed  2,000. 


J) 


THE  FKENCH  CAMPAIGN  IN  ALSACE 

At  the  end  of  October  the  French  right  wing  in  Alsace- 
Lorraine  was  reported  to  be  making  distinct  progress.  It  was 
said  to  be  advancing  through  the  passes  of  the  Vosges  in  the 
midst  of  heavy  snowstorms.  Paris  reported  that  the  Ger- 
mans, who  were  attempting  a  movement  against  the  great 
French  frontier  fortress  of  Belf ort,  had  been  driven  back  with 
heavy  losses,  while  from  other  sources  the  Germans  were  re- 
ported to  be  bringing  up  heavy  mortars  for  the  bombardment 
of  Belfort.  There  were  persistent  reports  of  German  defeats 
in  Alsace,  but  these  were  repeatedly  denied  in  Berlin.  The 
situation  in  the  territory  coveted  by  the  French  appeared  to 
resemble  that  farther  west — neither  side  was  making  much 
headway. 

THE  EUSSIAN"  CAMPAIGN 

In  the  eastern  theater  of  war  the  conflict  during  October 
was  waged  with  fortunes  that  favored,  first  one  side  and  then 
the  other.  Contradictory  claims  were  put  forth  from  time  to 
time  by  Petrograd,  Vienna  and  Berlin,  but  the  net  result  of 
the  operations  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  week  of  the  war 
appeared  to  be  that  while  the  intended  Russian  march  on 
Berlin  had  been  completely  checked,  the  Germans  had  been 
repulsed  with  heavy  losses  in  all  their  attempts  to  cross  the 
Vistula  and  occupy  Warsaw,  the  capital  of  Russian  Poland, 
which  was  at  one  time  seriously  threatened. 

The  fighting  along  the  Vistula  was  fierce  and  prolonged 
for  several  days  at  a  time.  The  Germans  made  numerous 
attempts  to  cross  the  river  at  different  points  by  means  of 
pontoon  bridges,  but  these  were  destroyed  by  the  Russian 
artillery  as  fast  as  completed.  The  slaughter  on  both  sides 
was  considerable.  On  October  28  the  Russian  battle  front 
reached  from  Suwalki  on  the  north  to  Sambor  and  Stryj  on 
the  south,  a  distance  of  about  267  miles.    The  German  opera- 


342         LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

tions  on  the  Vistula  were  still  in  progress  and  Poland  fur- 
nished the  main  arena  of  battle.  East  Prussia  was  practically 
free  from  Russian  troops,  save  at  a  few  points  near  the  bound- 
ary, but  they  strongly  maintained  their  positions  in  Galicia. 

THE  AUSTRO-SERVIAN  CAMPAIGN 

After  eleven  weeks'  bombardment  by  the  Austrians,  the 
Servian  defenders  of  Belgrade  were  still  bravely  resisting, 
although  half  the  city  had  been  destroyed.  The  situation  was 
such  as  to  cause  at  once  astonishment,  pity  and  admiration. 

In  the  open  field  the  Servians  continued  to  hold  their  own 
against  the  Austrian  forces  opposed  to  them.  Their  Monte- 
negrin allies,  under  General  Bukovitch,  were  reported  to  have 
defeated  16,000  Austrians,  supported  by  six  batteries  of  ar- 
tillery, at  a  point  northeast  of  Serajevo.  The  battle  termi- 
nated in  a  hand-to-hand  bayonet  conflict  which  lasted  four 
hours.  The  Austrians  are  said  to  have  lost  2,500  men,  killed 
and  wounded,  while  the  Montenegrins  claimed  that  their  losses 
amounted  to  only  300  men. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  PACIFIC 

Beginning  with  the  loss  of  its  colonies  in  the  China  sea, 
Germany  was  compelled  to  witness  during  the  first  two  years 
of  the  war  the  passing  into  enemy  hands  of  practically  all 
its  colonial  possessions,  which  more  than  balanced  its  tem- 
porary possession  of  enemy  soil  in  Europe.  One  by  one  its 
colonies  in  Asia  and  Africa  were  captured,  and  in  these 
operations  not  only  the  Japanese  but  the  Belgians  assisted, 
the  latter  in  Africa. 

Late  in  October,  1914,  the  Japanese  received  the  surrender 
of  Tsing  Tau,  the  important  German  city  in  Kiauchau, 
China.  The  place  had  been  battered  for  weeks  by  land  and 
sea  by  the  Japanese  forces,  and  the  surrender  was  ordered,  it 
was  said,  to  save  the  German  forces  and  civilians  from  cer- 
tain annihilation  if  a  defense  by  the  garrison  to  the  end  were 
to  be  carried  on.  German  warships  were  powerless  to  assist 
the  beleaguered  city,  as  Japanese  and  English  war  vessels  had 
driven  them  far  from  the  coast  of  China. 

The  Japanese  cruiser  Takachiho  was  sunk  by  a  mine  in 
Kiauchau  Bay  on  the  night  of  October  17.  One  officer  and 
nine  members  of  the  crew  are  known  to  have  been  saved. 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  343 

The  cruiser  carried  a  crew  of  284  men.    Her  main  battery  con- 
sisted of  eight  6-inch  gmis. 

MAIN  FLEETS  STILL  INACTIVE 

Up  to  the  last  week  in  October  the  main  fleets  of  the  war- 
ring powers  were  still  inactive,  but  rumors  of  intended  Ger- 
man naval  activity  were  frequent.  The  cat-and-mouse  atti- 
tude of  the  British  and  German  fleets  in  the  North  Sea  was 
continued,  the  Germans  lying  snug  in  their  ports,  protected 
by  their  mines  and  submarines,  while  the  British  battleships 
lay  in  wait  at  all  points  of  possible  egress.  The  situation 
tried  the  patience  of  the  people  of  both  countries  and  there 
were  frequent  demands  for  action  by  the  great  and  costly 
naval  armaments.  But  the  Germans  apparently  were  not  ready 
to  risk  a  general  engagement,  and  the  British  could  not  force 
them  to  come  out  and  fight.  The  British  admirals,  therefore 
had,  perforce,  to  pursue  a  policy  of  ''watchful  waiting,"  irk- 
some as  it  was  to  all  concerned,  and  "the  tireless  vigil  in  the 
North  Sea,"  as  it  was  termed  by  Mr.  Asquith,  was  maintained 
day  and  night.  No  sea  captain  becalmed  in  the  doldrums  ever 
whistled  for  a  wind  more  earnestly  than  the  British  Jack  tars 
prayed  for  a  chance  at  the  enemy  during  those  three  months 
of  playing  the  cat  to  Germany's  mouse;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  the  German  sailors  were,  no  doubt,  equally  desirious 
of  a  chance  to  demonstrate  the  fighting  abilities  of  their  brand- 
new  battleships.  All  were  equally  on  the  qui  vive,  for  any 
hour  might  bring  to  the  Germans  the  order  to  put  to  sea,  and 
to  the  British  the  welcome  cry  of  "Enemy  in  sight!" 

CARING  FOR  BELGIAN  REFUGEES 

The  plight  of  the  Belgian  people,  including  the  refugees 
in  Holland,  England  and  France,  was  pitiable  in  the  extreme 
and  by  the  end  of  October  had  roused  the  sympathy  of  the 
entire  world.  A  conservative  estimate  placed  the  number  of 
Belgians  expatriated  at  1,500,000  out  of  a  population  of  7,000,- 
000.  On  October  26  Mr.  Brand  Whitlock,  United  States  min- 
ister to  Belgium,  reported  that  the  entire  country  was  on  the 
verge  of  starvation,  while  Holland  and  England  had  their 
hands  full  caring  for  the  Belgians  who  had  sought  refuge  in 
those  countries.  In  eight  cities  of  Holland  there  were  said  to 
be  500,000  Belgian  refugees.  Over  70,000  arrived  in  London 
in  one  week  and  a  central  committee  in  London  had  twenty- 


344  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

seven  subcommittees  at  work  in  different  cities  in  England, 
Scotland  and  Wales,  placing  the  refugees  in  homes  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  The  humanitarian  problem  of  taking  care  of  the 
Belgians  was  one  of  tremendous  responsibility,  but  the  people 
of  the  three  countries  in  which  most  of  them  sought  refuge 
rose  nobly  to  the  occasion  and  spared  no  effort  to  lessen  their 
sufferings. 

MORE  CANADIANS  FOR  THE  FRONT 

It  was  announced  in  Ottawa,  Canada,  on  October  19  that 
the  Dominion  Government  had  decided  to  put  30,000  more 
men  in  training  in  Canada,  to  be  despatched  to  England  when 
ready.  As  soon  as  the  first  unit  of  15,000  was  embarked, 
probably  in  December,  another  15,000  men  would  be  enlisted  to 
replace  them,  the  plan  being  to  keep  30,000  men  continuously 
in  training,  to  be  drawn  upon  in  units  of  10,000  or  15,000  as 
soon  as  equipped,  during  the  continuance  of  hostilities  in 
Europe.  Thus  with  the  32,000  Canadian  volunteers  already 
landed  in  England,  and  8,000  under  arms  guarding  strategic 
points  in  the  Dominion,  Canada  would  soon  raise  100,000  men 
as  part  of  her  contribution  to  Imperial  defense. 

But  this  was  only  a  beginning.  Later  in  the  war  Canada 
stood  ready  to  furnish  half  a  million  men  to  the  cause  of  the 
Empire,  if  required.  Nearly  360,000  of  that  number  had  been 
enlisted  when  the  war  was  two  years  old.  The  greatest  prob- 
lems were  encountered  in  the  first  year,  or  rather  in  the  first 
six  months  of  the  war,  after  which  time  efforts  were  systema- 
tized, the  military  machine  worked  smoothly,  and  the  Domin- 
ion's splendid  response  to  the  call  to  arms  was  maintained 
throughout.  General  prosperity  in  the  face  of  adverse  con- 
ditions happily  attended  this  record  of  patriotic  achievement, 
and  the  predominant  spirit  in  Canada  was  one  of  buoyant 
optimism  as  to  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  great  conflict. 

THE  **EMDEN"  DRIVBN  ASHORE  A  WRECK 

During  the  first  three  months  of  the  war  the  German  cmiser 
Emden,  operating  principally  in  the  Indian  ocean,  played  havoc 
with  British  merchantmen,  sinking  over  twenty  vessels  en- 
gaged in  far  Eastern  commerce,  besides  a  Russian  cruiser  and 
a  French  torpedo-boat.  But  she  met  her  match  in  the  second 
week  of  November,  when  she  was  engaged  off  the  Cocos  or 


LATER  EVENTS  OF.  THE  WAR  345 

Keeling  group  of  islands,  southwest  of  Java,  by  the  fast  Aus- 
tralian cruiser  Sydney  and  driven  ashore  a  burning  wreck 
after  an  hour's  fight,  with  a  loss  of  280  men. 

NAVAL  BATTLE  OFF  CHILEAN  COAST 

Early  in  November  a  fleet  of  five  German  cruisers,  under 
Admiral  von  Spee,  encountered  a  British  squadron  composed 
of  the  cruisers  Good  Hope,  Monmouth  and  Glasgow,  in  com- 
mand of  Bear- Admiral  Sir  Christopher  Cradock,  off  the  coast 
of  Chile,  in  the  Southern  Pacific.  Despite  a  raging  gale,  a 
long-range  battle  ensued,  resulting  in  the  defeat  of  the  British 
and  the  loss  of  the  flagship  Good  Hope,  with  the  admiral  and 
all  her  crew,  and  of  the  cruiser  Monmouth.  The  Glasgow 
escaped  in  a  damaged  condition.  The  loss  of  life  was  about 
1,000,  officers  and  men. 

Up  to  November  15,  the  struggle  in  the  coast  region  of 
Belgium  continued  with  terrific  intensity  and  appalling  loss 
of  life  on  both  sides.  The  Germans  occupied  Dixmude  Novem- 
ber 11,  only  to  lose  it  on  November  13,  after  a  fierce  attack  by 
reinforced  British  troops. 

DAILY  COST  OP  WAE 

The  daily  cost  of  the  present  war  to  the  nations  engaged 
in  the  struggle  is  estimated  at  not  less  than  $54,000,000  a  day 
— a  sum  which  fairly  staggers  the  imagination.  This  enor- 
mous cost  of  the  armies  in  the  field  gives  a  decided  advantage 
to  the  nation  best  supplied  with  the  ''sinews  of  war"  and  may 
contribute  to  a  shortening  of  hostilities.  War  is  indeed  a 
terrible  drain  upon  the  resources  of  a  nation  and  only  a  few 
there  are  that  can  stand  many  months  of  war  expenditures 
like  those  of  August-October,  1914,  amounting  in  the  grand 
aggregate  to  nearly  five  billions  of  dollars  ($5,000,000,000). 

TURKEY  ENTERS  THE  WAR 

On  October  29  an  act  which  was  regarded  in  Russia  as 
equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  war  by  Turkey  was  committed 
at  Theodosia,  the  Crimean  port,  when  that  town  was  bom- 
barded without  notice  by  the  cruiser  Breslau,  flying  the 
Turkish  flag,  but  commanded  by  a  German  officer  and  manned 
by  a  German  crew.  The  Breslau  was  a  former  German  ship, 
and  was  said  to  have  been  purchased  by  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment, with  the  German  battleship  Goeben,  when  they  sought 
refuge  in  the  Dardanelles  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  from 
the  French  and  British  fleets  in  the  Mediterranean. 


346         LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

FOUETH  MONTH  OF  THE  WAB 

The  month  of  November,  the  fourth  month  of  the  war,  was 
marked  by  the  heaviest  losses  to  all  the  nations  concerned, 
but  made  little  change  in  the  general  situation. 

Along  the  Aisne  the  battle  begun  early  in  September  con- 
tinued intermittently.  Both  sides  literally  dug  themfA3lves 
in  and  along  the  battle  line  in  many  places,  the  hostile  trendies 
were  separated  by  only  a  few  yards.  At  the  end  of  the  month 
the  burrowing  had  been  succeeded  by  tunneling,  and  both 
sides  prepared  for  a  winter  of  spasmodic  action.  It  was  a 
military  deadlock,  but  a  deadlock  full  of  danger  for  the  side 
that  first  developed  a  weak  point  in  its  far-flung  front. 

With  the  utmost  fairness  and  impartiality  it  can  be  said 
that  at  the  beginning  of  December  both  the  allied  armies  and 
the  German  forces  facing  them  from  the  Belgian  coast  east 
and  south  to  the  borders  of  Alsace-Lorraine  were  exhausted 
by  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  campaign.  By  December  5, 
the  130th  day  of  the  war,  after  a  seven- weeks '  struggle  by  the 
Germans  for  the  possession  of  the  French  and  Belgian  coast, 
there  was  a  general  cessation  of  offensive  operations  by  both 
sides  and  the  indications  were  that  this  condition  was  due  to 
pure  physical  weariness  of  leaders  and  men.  The  world  had 
never  before  witnessed  such  strenuous  military  operations 
as  those  of  the  preceding  three  months  and  the  temporary 
exhaustion  of  the  armies  therefore  was  not  surprising. 

In  the  last  days  of  November,  the  city  of  Belgrade  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Austrians  after  a  siege  that  had  lasted, 
with  continual  bombardments,  since  the  war  began.  The  city 
was  finally  taken  by  stonn  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  in  a 
furious  charge  which  fairly  overwhelmed  the  gallant  defense 
of  the  Servians. 

In  this  month  it  began  to  be  generally  realized  that  the 
war  was  likely  to  be  of  prolonged  duration.  Strenuous  prepa- 
rations for  the  winter  campaign  were  made  on  both  sides 
and  the  recruiting  for  the  new  British  army  surpassed  all 
previous  records,  the  serious  menace  of  the  war  being  at  last 
recognized. 

The  month  of  November  was  also  marked  by  enormous 
contributions  of  cash  and  food  stuffs  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States  for  the  relief  of  the  impoverished  and  suffering 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  347 

Belgians.  The  people  of  Chicago  alone  contributed  over 
$500,000  and  this  was  but  a  sample  of  the  manner  in  which 
Americans  rose  to  the  opportunity  to  alleviate  the  distress 
in  Belgium.  "The  United  States  has  saved  us  from  starva- 
tion," said  a  Belgian  ofiQcial  on  December  1. 

The  casualties  of  all  the  armies  in  the  field  during  the 
month  of  November  exceeded  those  of  any  previous  period 
of  the  war.  Basing  an  estimate  of  the  total  casualties  upon 
the  same  percentage  as  that  employed  in  the  table  given  on 
another  page,  it  is  therefore  safe  to  say  that  up  to  December 
5  the  total  losses  of  the  combatant  nations  in  MUed,  wounded 
and  missing  aggregated  not  less  than  3,500,000  men. 


DECEMBEB  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

The  month  of  December,  1914,  the  fifth  month  of  the  war, 
registered  but  little  change  in  the  relative  positions  of  the 
combatant  nations.  In  the  west  the  Hues  held  firm  from  the 
North  Sea  to  Switzerland.  Daily  duels  of  artillery  and  daily 
assaults  here  and  there  along  the  battle  fronts  proved  unavail- 
ing, so  far  as  any  change  in  general  conditions  was  concerned. 
Frequently  the  assaults  were  of  a  desperate  character,  espe- 
cially in  Flanders,  where  in  the  middle  of  the  month  the  Allies 
assumed  the  offensive  all  along  the  line  and  sturdily  strove  to 
push  back  the  German  front  in  Belgium.  But  the  utmost 
valor  and  persistence  in  attack  were  invariably  met  by  reso- 
lute resistance.  Both  sides  were  strongly  entrenched  and  the 
gain  of  a  few  yards  today  was  usually  followed  by  the  loss  of 
a  few  yards  tomorrow. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  warfare  had  the  science  of 
entrenchment  been  developed  to  such  an  extent.  The  German, 
French,  British  and  Belgian  armies  literally  burrowed  in  the 
earth  along  a  battle  front  of  150  miles.  In  many  places  the 
hostile  trenches  were  separated  by  only  a  few  yards,  and  min- 
ing was  frequently  resorted  to.  Tunneling  toward  each  other, 
both  the  contending  forces  occasionally  succeeded  in  blowing 
up  the  enemy's  trench,  and  whole  companies  of  unsuspecting 
troops  were  sometimes  annihilated  in  this  way.  In  the  trenches 
themselves  scenes  unparalleled  in  warfare  were  witnessed. 
With  the  arrival  of  winter  the  troops  on  either  side  proceeded 


348  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

to  secure  what  comfort  they  could  by  all  manner  of  clevv-r 
and  unique  devices.  Winter  clothing  was  provided  as  far  as 
possible,  but  on  both  sides  there  was  inevitable  suffering  for 
lack  of  suitable  supplies  for  the  winter  campaign,  and  indi- 
vidual initiative  had  frequently  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of 
official  forethought. 

Many  unique  features  of  trench  life  were  developed  dur- 
ing the  first  month  of  winter  warfare.  Two-story  trenches 
became  common  on  both  sides  of  the  firing  line.  Bombproof 
underground  quarters  for  staff  and  commanding  officers  were 
constructed,  and  these  were  fitted  up  so  as  to  provide  all  the 
comforts  of  the  winter  cantonments  of  old-time  warfare.  The 
ever-necessary  telephone  was  installed  at  frequent  points  in 
trenches  that  stretched  for  scores  of  miles  in  practically  un- 
broken lines.  Board  roofs  were  built  and  provision  made  for 
heating  the  dugouts  in  which  thousands  of  men  passed  many 
days  and  nights  before  their  reliefs  arrived.  On  the  German 
side  miles  of  trenches  were  provided  with  stockade  walls, 
leaving  ample  room  inside  for  the  rapid  movement  of  troops. 
The  British  built  trenches  with  lateral  individual  dugouts  at 
right  angles  to  the  main  trench,  protecting  the  men  against 
flank  fire — and  these  aroused  the  admiration  even  of  their 
enemies.  In  the  French  trenches  the  ingenuity  of  a  French 
engineer  provided  a  system  of  hot  shower  baths  on  the  firing 
line,  and  from  all  points  along  the  deadlocked  battle  front 
came  stories  of  the  remarkable  manner  in  which  the  troops  of 
all  the  armies  speedily  accommodated  themselves  to  unprece- 
dented conditions  and  maintained  a  spirit  of  cheerfulness 
truly  marvelous  under  the  circumstances,  especially  as  there 
was  no  cessation  of  the  constant  endeavor  to  gain  ground  from 
the  enemy  and  no  end  to  the  daily  slaughter. 

IN  THE  GERMAN  TRENCHES 

A  correspondent  with  the  German  army  who  visited  the 
firing  line  in  the  Argonne  forest  late  in  November,  by  special 
permission  of  the  German  crown  prince,  described  the  condi- 
tions in  the  trenches  as  follows:  *'Here  in  the  now  famous 
Argonne  forest — the  scene  of  some  of  the  war's  most  des- 
perate fighting — the  Germans  are  trenching  and  mining  their 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  349 

way  forward,  literally  yard  by  yard.  This  afternoon  I  reached 
the  foremost  trench,  south  of  Grandpre.  About  160  feet  ahead 
of  me  is  the  French  trench.  Picture  to  yourself  a  canebrake- 
like  woods  of  fishpoles  ranging  in  size  from  half  an  inch  to 
saplings  of  two  and  three  inches  thick  and  so  dense  that  you 
can  hardly  see  forty  yards  even  now  when  the  leaves  have 
fallen.  Ajnong  these  is  a  scattering  of  big  trees,  the  trunks 
of  which  are  veritable  mines  of  bullets. 

**  Irregular  lines  of  deep  yellow  clay  trenches  zigzag  for 
miles.  Other  trenches  run  back  from  these  to  what  looks 
like  a  huge  Kansas  'prairie-dog  town' — human  burrows,  where 
thousands  of  soldiers  are  literally  living  underground.  From 
the  lines  of  trenches  running  parallel  to  one  another  comes 
a  constant  spitting,  sputtering,  popping  of  rifles,  maMng  the 
woods  resound  like  a  Chinese  New  Year  in  San  Francisco  or 
an  old-time  Fourth  of  July.  Field  guns  and  hand  grenades 
furnish  the  'cannon-cracker'  effect.  Through  the  woods  the 
high-noted  'zing  zing'  of  bullets  sounds  like  a  swann  of  angry 
bees,  while  high  overhead  shrapnel  and  shell  go  shrieking  on 
their  way.  Here  and  there  you  may  see  spades  full  of  earth 
being  thrown  up  as  if  by  invisible  hands,  marking  the  onward 
work  of  the  German  gopher-like  pioneers  in  their  subterranean 
warfare.    That  is  the  Argonne  forest. 

*'As  the  trench  I  am  in  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  French 
three  days  ago  and  as  the  crown  prince  is  advancing  steadily, 
the  trenches  are  temporary  and  contain  little  in  the  way  of 
comforts.  In  deep  niches  cut  in  the  side  the  soldiers  rest,  play 
^ards  or  even  sleep  on  damp  ledges  between  fights. 

"The  trenches  also  serve  as  a  cemetery.  When  the  enemy's 
fire  is  so  hot  that  it  is  impossible  to  stick  your  head  out  or 
to  take  the  dead  out  to  bury  them,  the  grave  is  made  in  a 
niche  or  a  ledge  cut  into  the  side  of  the  trench. ' ' 

GEBMAN  ADVANCE  HALTED 

The  western  operations  in  December  made  it  clear  that  the 
German  advance  to  the  Channel  ports  of  France  had  been 
definitely  halted.  In  the  terrible  battle  of  Ypres  in  Flanders, 
following  the  prolonged  engagements  along  the  Yser  river, 
the  Allies  succeeded  in  repulsing  the  desperate  German  on- 


350  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

slaught,  and  the  German  offensive  was  brouglit  to  a  full  stop. 
Towns  and  villages  in  Flanders,  in  Artois  and  in  Champagne, 
that  had  been  captured  in  the  early  German  rush,  w^ere  retaken 
one  by  one  by  the  Belgians,  French  and  British,  slowly  but 
surely,  until  the  Germans  were  forced  to  act  upon  the  de- 
fensive along  a  line  of  entrenchments  prepared  to  enable  them 
to  keep  open  their  communications  through  Belgium  with 
their  great  base  at  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

An  incident  of  the  desperate  ^hting  at  Ypres,  in  which 
British  and  French  troops  practically  annihilated  six  German 
regiments,  including  the  crack  Second  regiment  of  Prussian 
Guards,  has  been  graphically  described  by  an  eye-witness  as 
follows : 

*' A  long  valley  stretches  out  before  us  and  the  little  rise  on 
which  we  stand — about  fifty  feet  above  the  plain — commands 
it.  The  British  guns  are  shooting  almost  horizontally  at  the 
German  infantry  trudging  through  the  mud  2,000  yards  away. 

"I  count  easily  five  regiments  together,  but  further  to  the 
right  a  sixth  one  evidently  wards  off  a  flank  attack  on  the  part 
of  the  French  colonial  troops.  The  lone  regiment  is  the  Sec- 
ond Prussian  regiment  of  the  guard,  the  emperor's  own,  the 
elite  of  the  Kaiser's  army,  2,500  of  the  brawniest,  most  dis- 
ciplined men  in  the  world.  It  is  now  1  o'clock.  In  one  hour 
only  300  of  these  men  will  leave  the  field. 

*'A  gust  of  wind  brings  to  our  ears  the  sound  of  music. 
The  guards'  band  is  encouraging  the  men.  At  the  foot  of  the 
small  hill  on  which  we  stand  are  twenty  lines  of  trenches  filled 
with  Scotch  and  English  infantry.  The  men  are  silently 
awaiting  the  attack.  Not  a  rifle  is  being  fired.  The  trenches 
are  the  Germans'  goal;  these  and  the  British  batteries  once 
taken,  the  road  into  Ypres  is  clear. 

' '  In  the  valley  the  Germans  halt.  The  range  is  only  1,500 
yards  now  and  every  British  shot  is  telling.  The  effects  are 
appalling.  The  gray  masses  move  onward  once  more,  seem  to 
hesitate,  but  sharp  bugle  blasts  launch  them  forward  again 
and  on  the  run  they  come  for  the  trenches. 

*'At  1,000  yards  our  batteries  again  stop  them.  Whole 
rows  are  mowed  down,  vast  spaces  appearing  between  the 
ranks.    The  companies  intermingle,  then  the  regiments  them- 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  351 

selves  seem  to  amalgamate  and  melt  into  one  another.  Offi- 
cers are  seen  galloping  along  the  sides,  evidently  trying  to 
bring  order  out  of  chaos. 

' '  The  artillerymen  work  silently,  the  perspiration  stream- 
ing down  their  cheeks,  and  continue  sending  on  their  mes- 
sengers of  death. 

' '  The  Second  regiment  of  the  Guard  alone,  off  to  the  right, 
seems  untouched,  and  on  it  comes.  Suddenly  the  sound  of  a 
bagpipe  is  heard.  The  Scots  are  awake.  From  the  trenches 
an  avalanche  rushes  forward  toward  the  disordered  Germans. 

*'At  the  double-quick  Scots  and  English,  a  few  feet  apart, 
yelling  like  demons,  pounce  on  the  attackers.  Rifles  are  silent. 
It  is  cold  steel  alone.  Our  battery  captains  cry  *  Stop  firing. ' 
There  is  a  risk  of  shelling  our  own  men  now.  We  become 
spectators. 

"On  the  right  the  Guard  has  suddenly  turned  toward  the 
hill.  A  bugle  blast  and  the  mass  of  men  half  turns  and  seems 
to  be  thrown  on  the  back  of  the  British,  outflanked.  The  situ- 
ation is  desperate.    Our  artillery  is  useless. 

' '  Listen !  Over  the  valley,  rising  louder  and  still  louder, 
comes  a  song  which  the  Germans  have  heard  before.  A  crash 
of  brass,  a  hoarse  roar  fills  the  air,  echoing  across  the  valley, 
drowning  the  shouts  and  curses  of  the  human  wave  fighting 
below. 

"The  'Marseillaise* — the  English  and  Scots  have  heard  it. 
'Hold  tight,  the  French  are  coming,*  we  scream.  They  cannot 
hear  us,  but  we  must  shout — the  strain  is  too  intense. 

"Past  our  batteries  a  company  of  Spahis  rushes  like  a 
cyclone.  Two  more  follow,  then  the  Zouaves.  Rifles  close  to 
their  hips,  bayonets  low,  throwing  out  over  the  valley  its  glor- 
ious anthem,  the  human  flood  crashes  against  the  Guard. 

"The  lines  waver  in  an  indescribable  jumble  of  gray,  yel- 
low, blue,  and  red  uniforms,  then  seem  to  bounce  back  from 
the  very  force  of  the  shock.  Men  appear,  raised  from  their 
feet,  and  raised  high  in  the  air. 

"Caught  in  a  vise  between  the  British  and  the  French,  the 
Guard  alone  remains.  Ten  times  the  shattered  remnants  of 
the  Kaiser's  proud  regiment  charged,  and  ten  times  was 
thrown  back,  first  against  the  French,  then  against  the  Brit- 


352  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

ish.    Crying,  'Comrades,  comrades!'  hundreds  began  throw- 
ing their  guns  aside. 

*'At  2  o'clock  it  was  over.  The  Allies  had  lost  1,200  men. 
Only  300  prisoners  remained  of  the  Second  Prussian  regiment 
of  the  Guard. 

PKOGpESS  OF  THE  EASTEEN  CAMPAIGN 

The  campaign  in  the  eastern  theater  of  war  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  whole  world  in  December,  when  the  German 
operations  begun  in  November  under  Field  Marshal  Von 
Hindenburg,  the  victor  of  Tannenberg  earlier  in  the  war, 
were  continued  with  varying  successes.  Early  in  the  month 
the  Germans  captured  Lodz,  the  second  city  and  chief  manu- 
facturing center  of  Eussian  Poland,  with  a  population  of 
about  500,000,  after  a  bombardment  of  a  week's  duration,  the 
city  being  set  on  fire  in  many  places.  The  Russians  made  a, 
desperate  resistance,  and  the  fighting  around  Lodz  consti- 
tuted the  most  bitter  struggle  of  the  entire  war  on  this  front. 
A  general  Russian  retirement  in  the  direction  of  Warsaw  fol- 
lowed, but  the  Germans  failed  in  their  subsequent  efforts  to 
envelop  the  flanks  of  the  Russian  army  to  the  north  and  south. 
Russian  reinforcements  from  Warsaw  coming  up  promptly, 
the  Germans  were  in  their  turn  compelled  to  retire.  Two 
German  army  corps  were  then  practically  cut  off  by  the  Rus- 
sians, but  made  a  successful  retreat,  fighting  their  way  back 
to  safety  with  the  bayonet  in  one  of  the  most  brilliant  exploits 
of  the  war.  Thus  the  net  result  of  the  German  campaign  in 
Poland  in  December  left  the  general  situation  there  practi- 
cally unchanged  and  the  Russian  front  unbroken,  while  in  East 
Prussia,  too,  the  Russian  invasion  continued  despite  German 
efforts  to  roll  it  back  across  the  frontier. 

The  losses  on  both  sides  in  the  eastern  campaign  in  Decem- 
ber were  appalling,  the  fighting  being  of  the  fiercest  possible 
nature.  A  typical  struggle  occurred  a  few  miles  west  of  Lodz 
in  the  little  churchyard  of  Beschici,  where  the  Russians,  in  one 
of  the  final  phases  of  the  struggle  for  the  PoUsh  city,  showed 
that  in  spite  of  their  defeats  and  discouragements  they  knew 
how  to  fight  and  die.  This  churchyard  hes  on  a  small  emi- 
nence which  formed  a  sahent  into  the  German  lines.     The 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  353 

Germans  were  able  to  make  an  attack  from  three  sides  with 
infantry  and  artillery.  All  the  Eussian  trenches  were  enfiladed 
by  shrapnel  from  one  direction  or  another,  but  the  Russians 
clung  to  their  positions  obstinately.  When  the  Germans 
finally  captured  the  trenches  878  Russian  corpses  were  found 
in  a  space  about  eighty  yards  square. 

It  was  resistance  of  this  nature  which  the  Germans  had  to 
overcome  in  order  to  capture  Lodz.  Later  in  December  it 
became  clear  that  Russia  was  getting  her  millions  into  tho 
field  and  that  the  strategy  of  the  commander-in-chief,  the 
Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  would  soon  be  aided  by  the  weig:ht  of 
overwhelming  numbers. 

BELGIUM  THANKS  AMEKICA 

During  November  and  December  Madame  Vandervelde, 
wife  of  a  member  of  the  Belgian  cabinet,  toured  the  United 
States  soliciting  aid  for  her  suffering  fellow-countrymen.  The 
response  everywhere  was  extremely  generous  and  in  appre= 
ciation  of  the  aid  given  the  war  victims  of  her  country  Madame 
Vandervelde  penned  the  following  poem,  entitled  ''Belgium 
Thanks  America : ' ' 

Today  it's  Christmas  morning;  we  hear  no  Christmas  bell. 

But  still  we  tell  the  story  which  once  we  loved  to  tell. 

"Good  will!    Good  will!"  we  read  it,  and  "Peace!" — we  hear  the  name, 

And  crouch  among  the  ruins,  and  watch  the  cruel  flame, 

And  hear  the  children  crying,  and  turn  our  eyes  away — 

For  them  there's  neither  bread  nor  home  this  happy  Christmas  day. 

But  look!  there  comes  a  message  from  far  across  the  deep, 

From  hearts  that  still  can  pity  and  eyes  that  still  can  weep — 

O  little  lips  a-hunger!     O  faces  pale  and  wan! 

There's  somewhere — somewhere — peace  on  earth,  somewhere  good  will  to  man. 

Across  the  waste  of  waters,  a  thousand  leagues  away. 

There's  some  one  still  remembers  that  here  it's  Christmas  day. 

0  God  of  Peace,  remember,  and  in  thy  mercy  keep 

The  hearts  that  still  can  pity,  the  eyes  that  still  can  weep. 

Amid  the  shame  and  torment,  the  ruins  and  the  graves. 

To  theirs,  the  land  of  freedom,  from  ours,  t^e  land  of  slaves. 

What  answer  can  we  send  them?     We  can  but  kneel  and  pray: 

God  grant — God  grant  to  them,  at  least,  a  happy  Christmas  day. 


354  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

GRIM  REALITIES  OF  THE   WAR 

A  vivid  picture  of  the  horrible  realities  of  the  war,  as  seen 
in  a  field  hospital  near  the  firing  line,  was  given  in  ' '  The  New 
Republic"  of  November  28  by  Mr.  Henry  W.  Nevinson,  who 
described  his  experiences  at  Dixmude  in  Belgium  as  follows : 

''When  I  entered  Dixmude  one  night  in  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber the  first  bombardment  was  over,  but  from  both  sides  the 
heavy  shells  flew^  across  the  town.  From  the  end  of  the  main 
street  came  an  incessant  noise  of  rifles  and  machine  guns. 
Unaimed  bullets  wailed  through  the  air,  and  pattered  as  they 
struck  the  walls.  Flaming  houses  shed  a  light  upon  the 
ruined  streets,  but  only  one  house  looked  inhabited,  and  all 
the  others  which  were  not  burning  stood  silent  and  empty, 
expecting  destruction. 

' '  That  one  house  was  used  as  an  outlying  hospital  or  dress- 
ing-place nearest  the  firing  line,  and  the  wounded  had  to  be 
led  or  carried  only  two  or  three  hundred  yards  to  reach  it. 
They  sat  on  the  dining-room  chairs  or  lay  helpless  on  the  floor. 
A  few  surgeons  were  at  work  upon  them,  cutting  off  loose 
fingers  and  throwing  them  into  basins,  plugging  black  holes 
that  welled  up  instantly  through  the  plug,  straining  bandages, 
which  in  a  minute  ceased  to  be  white,  round  legs  and  heads. 
The  smell  of  fresh,  warm  blood  was  thick  on  the  air.  One 
man  lay  deep  in  his  blood.  You  could  not  have  supposed  that 
anyone  had  so  much  in  him.  Another's  head  had  lost  on 
one  side  all  human  semblance,  and  was  a  hideous  pulp  of  eye 
and  ear  and  jaw.  Another,  with  chest  torn  open,  lay  gasping 
for  the  few  minutes  left  of  life.  And  as  I  waited  for  the 
ambulance  more  were  brought  in,  and  always  more. 

**In  a  complacent  and  comfortable  account  of  hospital 
work  I  lately  read  that '  deaths  from  wounds  are  happily  rare ; 
one  surgeon  put  the  number  as  low  as  2  per  cent.'  Happy 
hospital,  far  away  in  Paris  or  some  Isle  of  the  Blest!  The 
further  from  the  front  the  fewer  the  deaths,  because  so  many 
have  died  already. 

''In  the  nearest  hospitals  to  the  front,  half  the  wounded, 
and  on  some  days  more  than  half,  die  where  they  are  put. 
Often  they  die  in  the  ambulance,  and  one's  care  in  drawing 
them  out  is  wasted,  for  they  will  never  feel  again.    I  found 


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LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  355 

one  always  took  the  same  care,  though  the  greenish-yellow 
of  the  exposed  hands  or  feet  showed  the  truth.  Laid  on  the 
floor  of  the  main  hospital  itself,  some  screamed  or  moaned, 
some  whimpered  like  sick  children,  especially  in  their  sleep, 
some  lay  quiet,  with  glazed  eyes  out  of  which  sight  was  pass- 
ing. Mere  fragments  of  mankind  were  there  extended,  limbs 
pounded  into  mash,  heads  split  open,  intestines  hanging  out 
from  gashes.  Did  those  bones — did  that  exquisite  network  of 
living  tissue  and  contrivances  for  life — cost  no  more  in  the 
breeding  than  to  be  hewed  and  smashed  and  pulped  like  this  ? 
Shrapnel — shrapnel — it  was  nearly  always  the  same.  For  this 
is,  above  all,  an  artillery  war,  and  both  sides  are  justly  proud 
of  their  efficiency  in  guns." 

GOVERNMENT   EETUENS   TO   PARIS 

Confidence  of  safety  having  been  restored  in  the  French 
capital,  the  Paris  bourse  reopened  on  December  7,  after  hav- 
ing been  closed  since  September  3.  President  Poincare  trans- 
ferred his  official  residence  back  to  Paris  from  Bordeaux  on 
December  9  and  a  meeting  of  the  French  cabinet  was  held  in 
Paris  on  December  11,  for  the  first  time  since  the  capital  was 
threatened  by  the  German  advance  at  the  end  of  August. 

BRITISH    NAVAL  VICTORY 

In  the  second  week  of  December  the  British  navy  avenged 
the  defeat  of  Bear  Admiral  Cradock's  squadron  off  the  Chilean 
coast  in  November,  when  a  powerful  special  fleet,  under  Vice- 
Admiral  Sir  Frederick  Sturdee,  encountered  the  German 
cruiser  fleet,  under  Admiral  von  Spee,  off  the  Falkland  Islands 
and  practically  destroyed  it.  Only  one  of  the  five  German 
cruisers  escaped.  The  flagship  Scharnhorst,  the  Gneisenau, 
the  Leipzig  and  the  Nurnberg  were  sunk  in  the  action,  which 
lasted  for  five  hours,  and  the  German  admiral  with  three  of 
his  sons  and  most  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  German  crews 
perished.    The  British  losses  were  inconsiderable. 

This  sea  fight  in  the  South  Atlantic  was  the  most  important 
engagement  in  which  British  men-of-war  had  participated 
since  the  era  of  Napoleon.  The  sailing  of  the  British  fleet  in 
quest  of  Admiral  von  Spec's  squadron  had  been  kept  secret 
and  the  news  of  the  victory  was  therefore  especially  welcome 
to  the  people  of  England,  who  had  been  considerably  worried 


356  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

by  a  succession  of  minor  naval  losses  inflicted  by  German 
cruisers,  submarines  and  mines.  The  action  was  gallantly 
fought  on  both  sides.  The  advantage  in  weight  of  metal  and 
range  of  guns  lay  on  the  side  of  the  British,  and  the  battle  was 
decided  at  long  range.  Admiral  von  Spee,  refusing  to  sur- 
render, in  spite  of  the  odds  against  him,  went  down  with  his 
ship.  The  flagship  of  the  victorious  admiral,  Sir  Frederick 
3turdee,  was  the  modern  battle  cruiser  Invincible.  A  number 
of  the  German  sailors  were  rescued  by  the  British  after  the 
engagement  and  sent  as  prisoners  of  war  to  England.  The 
total  German  loss  was  over  2,000  officers  and  men. 

Fine  strategy  was  shown  by  the  British  admiralty  in  send- 
ing Admiral  Sturdee  to  South  American  waters.  He  was  or- 
dered to  sea  from  his  desk  as  chief  of  the  British  naval  board, 
after  Von  Spec's  Chilean  victory  in  November,  and  was  placed 
in  command  of  some  of  the  fastest  and  most  powerful  cruisers 
of  the  British  fleet.  The  entire  affair,  from  the  time  the  ad- 
miral left  London  until  he  succeeded  in  finding  and  sinking 
the  German  squadron  in  the  South  Atlantic,  took  about  a 
month — a  truly  remarkable  exploit. 

EULERS   AT   THE   FRONT 

During  December  all  the  armies  in  the  field  were  visited 
by  the  rulers  of  their  respective  countries.  The  Czar  spent 
some  time  with  his  troops  near  the  firing  lines  in  Poland ;  King 
George  of  England  visited  the  British  forces  in  Belgium  and 
Northern  France  and  conferred  the  Victoria  Cross  (''For 
Valor")  on  a  number  of  officers  and  men;  and  President  Poin- 
care  made  several  trips  to  the  front,  conferring  decorations 
upon  General  Joffre,  commander-in-chief,  and  other  French 
officers,  for  distinguished  service.  The  gallant  and  devoted 
soldier-king,  Albert  of  Belgium,  remained  steadfastly  at  the 
front  with  his  troops,  sharing  all  their  privations  and  dangers 
during  the  fierce  fighting  in  Flanders.  Kaiser  Wilhelm  was 
also  at  the  front,  both  east  and  west,  but  was  forced  to  return 
to  Berlin  early  in  the  month  by  an  attack  of  illness.  On  his 
recovery  after  two  weeks  he  again  visited  the  western  field 
headquarters  in  Belgium,  but  in  the  first  week  of  January, 
1915,  he  was  again  compelled  by  his  ailment  to  make  a  hurried 
return  to  Berlin  for  medical  treatment  and  rest. 


BRITISH  AND  GERMAN  SEA  LOSSES 

Britisli  and  German  naval  losses  in  the  world  war  to  Jan- 
uary 1,  1915,  are  shown  in  the  following,  compiled  from 
admiralty  reports,  and,  where  these  are  missing,  from  other 
authoritative  sources.    The  figures  are  approximately  correct. 


BEITISH  LOSSES 

Date  Name  and  Typs  How  Sunk 

Aug.     7 — Amphion,    protected   cruiser Mined     . .  . 

Sept.     4 — Speedy,   torpedo   gunboat Mined,     ..  • 

Sept.     5 — Pathfinder,    protected    cruiser Mined     ..  . 

Sept.     7 — Warrior,   protected   cruiser Siranded    . 

Sept.     9 — Oceanic,    auxiliary   cruiser Wrecked     . 

Sept.  IS — FisTiguard   II,    training   ship Foundered 

Sept.  19 — AE-1,   submarine Lost     .... 

Sept.  20 — Pegasus,    protected    cruiser Shelled    .  . 

Sept.  2  2 — Aboukir,    protected   cruiser Torpedoed 

Sept.  3  2 — Cressy,    protected    cruiser Torpedoed 

Sept.  2  2 — Hogue,    protected    cruiser Torpedoed 

Oct.    15 — Hawke,   protected  cruiser Torpedoed 

Oct.    18 — E-3,    submarine Shelled     ,  . 

Oct.    27 — Audacious,    dreadnought    Torpedoed 

Oct.    31 — Hermes,    protected   cruiser Torpedoed 

Nov.     1 — Monmouth,    armored    cruiser Shelled    .  . 

Nov.     1 — Good  Hope,  armored  cruiser Shelled     .  . 

Nov.     5 — D-5,   submarine Mined     .  .  . 

Nov.  1 1 — Niger,    torpedo    gunboat Torpedoed 

Nov.  2fi — Bulwark,    battleship Explosion 

Jan.     1 — Formidable,    battleship    Torpedoed 


Number  of  vessels  lost,  21. 


Lives 

Com- 

Tonnage 

lost 

plement 

3,440 

136 

320 

SIO 

•  •  • 

85 

2,940 

200 

268 

1.1, .TOO 

•  •  • 

704 

17,000 

•  •  r 

500 

21 

65 

soo 

25 

25 

2,200 

2  5 

224 

12,000 

510 

700 

12,000 

561 

700 

12,000 

3C2 

700 

7,3.'')0 

350 

544 

800 

25 

25 

25,000 

2 

900 

5, COO 

456 

9, SOO 

540 

540 

14,100 

875 

900 

550 

21 

21 

810 

■  .  ■ 

85 

15,000 

8  00 

814 

17,000 

579 

850 

Totals     172,700       5,082       9,426 


GEKMAN  LOSSES 

Date  Name  and  Type  How  Sunk 

Aug.     5 — Panther,    gunboat    Shelled    .... 

Aug.     6 — Koenigin  I-,uise,  mine  layer Torpedoed 

Aug.     7 — Augsburg,    protected    cruiser Shelled    .... 

Aug.     9 — U-15.     submarine     Shelled     .... 

Aug.  2  7 — Kaiser  V/m.   der   Grosse,   aux.   cruiser .  Shelled     .  .  .  . 

Aug.  2  7 — Magdeburg,   protected    cruiser Shelled    .... 

Aug.  2  8 — Mainz,   protected  cruiser Shelled     .... 

Aug.  28 — Koeln,   protected   cruiser. Shelled    .... 

Aug.  28 — Ariadne,    protected    cruiser Shelled     .... 

Aug.  2  8 — V-1S6,     V-187,    destroyers Shelled     .... 

Sept.  14 — Cap    Trafalgar,    auxiliary   cruiser.'.  ,  .  Shelled     .... 

Sept.  15 — Hela,    small   cruiser Torpedoed 

Oct.    17 — S-115,    117,    lis,   119,  4  destroyers.  .  Shelled    .... 

Oct.    20 — S-90.     destroyer     Ran     ashore. 

Oct.    25 — Submarine     Shelled    .... 

Oct.    30 — Submarine Slielled    .... 

Nov.     4 — Yorck,    armored    cruiser Mined     

Nov.     7— Jaguar,    gunboat Shelled    .... 

Nov.     7 — Luchs,    gunboat Shelled    .... 

Not.     7 — litis,    gunboat     Shelled    .... 

Nov.     7 — Cormoran,    gunboat Shelled     .... 

Nov,     7 — Tiger,    gunboat     Shelled    .... 

Nov.     7 — Taku.    destroyer     Shelled    .... 

Nov.     7 — Ruchin,   mine  layer Shelled    .... 

Nov.     9 — Emden,    protected    cruiser Shelled     .... 

Nov.  .  . — Wilhelm    der    Grosse,    battleship Mined      

Nov.  .  . — Hertha,    cruiser Mined     

Dec.     8 — Scharnhorst,    armored    cruiser Shellgd     .... 

Dec.     8 — Gneisenau,   armored  cruiser Shelled    .... 

Dec.     8 — Leipzig,    cruiser Shelled     .... 

Dec.     8 — Nurnberg.    cruiser     Shelled    .... 

Dec.  10 — Three  submarines Shelled     .... 

Number  of  vessele  lost,  38. 

Totals     ..  . 


Lives 

Com- 

Tonnage 

lost  plement 

900 

75 

130 

1,800 

70 

150 

4,280 

150 

379 

400 

12 

12 

14,340 

30 

450 

4.478 

200 

370 

4,280 

SOO 

370 

4,2  8  0 

200 

370 

2,620 

200 

275 

1,290 

100 

166 

26,000 

14 

310 

2,000 

10 

101 

1,060 

193 

224 

400 

56 

400 

12 

12 

400 

12 

12 

9,3.'30 

266 

633 

8S0 

50 

126 

880 

50 

126 

880 

50 

126 

1,600 

100 

162 

880 

50 

126 

280 

2  5 

49 

3,540 

200 

■   B   • 

361 

10,7!M 

4  00 

658 

5,569 

200 

400 

11,420 

704 

764 

11,420 

700 

764 

3,200 

280 

280 

3,200 

256 

280 

1,200 

36 

3e 

134,626       5,005       8,863 


357 


358  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

CANADIANS   AT   THE   FRONT 

Late  in  December  the  first  of  the  Canadian  troops  to  leave 
their  Enghsh  training  camp  on  Salisbury  Plain  were  sent  to 
the  front  in  Northern  France.  The  Princess  Patricia  regi- 
ment had  the  military  honor  of  leading  the  Canadians  to  the 
firing  line.  It  was  made  up  largely  of  men  who  had  seen 
previous  service  and  promptly  proceeded  to  give  a  good  ac- 
count of  itself.  A  British  guardsman  returning  wounded  from 
the  front  on  December  28  paid  a  characteristic  tribute  to  the 
efficiency  and  daring  of  the  Canadian  troops,  when  he  said: 
**They  are  all  old  soldiers.  They  knew  as  much  about  the 
game  as  we  did  and  a  blooming  sight  more  than  the  enemy's 
infantry. ' ' 

The  Canadians  first  went  into  action  at  one  of  those  ticklish 
spots  where  yards  count.  The  trench  of  the  British  ended  at 
a  village  which  was  vigorously  shelled  by  the  Germans,  and 
was  practically  in  ruins.  Another  trench  on  the  right  of  a 
little  town  held  by  unmounted  French  cavalry  made  it  impos- 
sible for  the  Germans  to  reach  the  village,  but  their  *'  snipers" 
had  ensconced  themselves  in  some  farm  buildings  to  the  north- 
east, making  it  extremely  hazardous  for  supplies  to  reach  the 
advanced  British  posts. 

''About  twenty  of  the  Canadians,"  said  the  wounded 
guardsman,  ''managed  to  gain  the  ruins  at  the  extreme  end  of 
the  village  during  Christmas  night  and  when  daylight  came 
they  accounted  for  practically  all  the  German  'snipers'  and 
dashed  back  into  safety  before  the  German  artillery  fire  was 
directed  to  the  stronghold. ' ' 

SERVIANS   REOCCUPY   BELGRADE 

Just  when  it  appeared  likely  that  Servia  might  share  the 
fate  of  Belgium,  a  turn  in  the  fortunes  of  war  changed  the 
entire  situation  of  affairs  in  the  little  Slav  kingdom.  Aided 
by  a  fresh  advance  of  Russian  troops  across  the  Carpathians, 
which  caused  the  hurried  withdrawal  of  three  Austrian  army 
corps  from  Servian  territory  to  defend  the  threatened  cities 
of  Hungary,  the  Serbs  again  took  the  offensive  and,  inspired 
by  the  presence  in  the  field  of  old  King  Peter,  a  gallant  soldier 
of  France  in  1870,  they  reoccupied  Belgrade  and  drove  the 
Austrians  before  them  in  a  disorderly  rout,  so  that  by  Decern- 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  359 

ber  15  Servia  was  free  of  the  Austrian  enemy.  Budapest, 
capital  of  Hungary,  became  panic-stricken  at  the  Russian  ad- 
vance and  the  Ser^ian  victory,  and  the  year  1914  closed  with 
every  evidence  that  the  people  of  Austria,  at  any  rate,  were 
tired  of  the  war,  discontented  at  the  prospect,  and  desirous 
of  peace. 

GERMAN   ATTACK   ON   BRITISH   COAST 

For  the  first  time  in  history  since  the  days  of  the  American 
commander,  Paul  Jones,  British  coast  towns  were  bombarded 
on  December  16,  when  a  squadron  of  German  cruisers,  slipping 
across  the  North  Sea  in  a  fog,  from  their  Heligoland  base, 
appeared  off  Scarborough,  Hartlepool  and  Whitby,  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  England,  and  shelled  each  of  them  in  turn. 
The  loss  of  life  in  the  three  towns  was  about  100,  men,  women 
and  children,  and  a  considerable  number  of  buildings  were 
partially  wrecked  by  the  German  shells.  Comparatively 
speaking,  of  course  the  damage  inflicted  was  trifling  and  from 
a  military  point  of  view  the  incident  was  unimportant,  the 
German  ships  disappearing  in  the  fog  after  a  half -hour 's  bom- 
bardment. But  the  moral  effect  upon  the  British  public  was 
tremendous.  The  event  came  as  a  distinct  shock  to  their  over- 
confidence  and  as  a  reminder  that  the  German  navy  was  still 
to  be  reckoned  mth.  The  warships  of  the  Kaiser  brought 
home  to  the  people  of  the  United  Kingdom  the  meaning  of  the 
war,  as  no  previous  incident  had  done,  and  fear  of  further 
attacks  took  possession  of  them.  This  fear,  however,  soon 
turned  to  rage,  and  then  to  a  fierce  determination  to  prosecute 
the  war  to  a  bitter  end.  The  attack  stimulated  recruiting  for 
Lord  Kitchener's  new  army,  and  this  was  its  chief  result, 
though  Germany  had  proved  that  her  ships  could  reach  British 
shores  and  bombard  their  defenseless  towns,  in  spite  of  all  the 
vigilance  of  the  British  fleet. 

BRITISH   RAID   GERMAN   PORT 

By  way  of  answer  to  the  German  attack  on  Scarborough 
and  Hartlepool,  a  daring  raid  was  made  Christmas  Day  by 
the  British  navy  on  the  German  naval  base  at  Cuxhaven,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Elbe.  The  chief  participants  were  seven 
British  naval  airmen.  They  were  assisted  in  the  attack  by 
several  light  cruisers,  destroyers  and  submarines.    The  air- 


360  LATER  EVENTS  OE  THE  WAR 

men  piloted  seaplanes  and  succeeded  in  dropping  a  number 
of  bombs  in  the  vicinity  of  Cuxhaven,  in  an  attempt  to  bring 
out  into  the  open  a  portion  of  the  German  fleet  lying  there. 
The  affair  resulted  in  a  contest  between  the  most  modern  of 
war  machines.  No  surface  warships  were  sent  out  by  the  Ger- 
mans, but  the  attack  was  repelled  by  means  of  Zeppelins,  sea- 
planes and  submarines.  No  great  damage  was  done  on  either 
side  and  the  British  airmen  all  escaped  without  injury,  though 
four  of  them  lost  their  machines.  One,  Flight  Commander 
Hewlett,  fell  with  his  plane  into  the  North  Sea  at  a  consider- 
able distance  from  Cuxhaven  and  was  picked  up  by  a  Dutch 
trawler,  which  landed  him  in  Holland  several  days  afterward. 
The  British  vessels  remained  off  Cuxhaven  for  three  hours, 
engaged  in  the  most  novel  combat  in  naval  history. 

A  short  time  previous  to  the  attack  on  Cuxhaven,  the 
British  submarine  B-11  accomplished  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able exploits  of  the  war  when  it  penetrated  into  the  Dardanelles 
and  torpedoed  the  Turkish  battleship  Messudieh.  In  doing  so 
the  submarine  successfully  passed  and  repassed  five  lines  of 
submerged  mines  and  returned  to  its  base  in  safety  after  being 
under  w^ater  for  many  hours  at  a  stretch. 

17.  S.  PROTEST  ON  MAEINE  CONDITIONS 

On  December  31,  by  mutual  agreement  between  the  State 
Department  at  Washington  and  the  British  Foreign  Office,  the 
text  of  a  note  sent  by  the  United  States  to  England,  requesting 
an  early  improvement  in  the  treatment  of  American  shipping 
by  the  British  fleet,  was  made  public.  The  note  of  protest  had 
been  presented  on  December  29.  It  dealt  with  the  manner  in 
which  American  ships  suspected  of  carrying  contraband  of 
war  had  been  held  up  on  the  high  seas  and  sent  into  British 
ports  for  examination.  Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  British  foreign 
secretary,  and  Walter  Hines  Page,  United  States  ambassador, 
conferred  on  the  subject  in  London,  and  it  was  announced  on 
January  1,  1915,  that  an  answer  to  the  American  note  would 
be  drawn  up  as  soon  as  possible  and  that  it  would  be  in  the 
same  friendly  spirit  in  which  the  American  note  was  written. 

ON  THE   WBSTEEN   BATTLE  FRONT 

The  battle  lines  in  the  western  theater  of  war  held  firm  and 
/*st  during  the  first  two  months  of  1915.    Along  the  entire 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR        361 

front,  from  Flanders  to  the  Swiss  frontier,  there  were  few 
changes  in  the  relati^  3  positions  of  the  German  forces  and  the 
Allies  up  to  March  1,  at  which  time  both  sides  were  occupied 
with  preparations  for  the  spring  campaign.  British  reinforce- 
ments, forming  part  of  Lord  Kitchener's  new  army,  were 
being  transported  to  the  front,  while  the  far-flung  lines  of 
trenches  were  filled  with  battle-weary  veterans  of  the  winter 
campaign.  In  many  places  the  entrenchments  of  the  opposing 
forces  were  only  a  few  yards  apart  and  trenches  were  fre- 
quently destroyed  by  mines,  resulting  in  losses  to  both  sides, 
but  without  materially  changing  the  general  aspect  of  the 
conflict 

KAVAIi  BATTLE  IN  THE  NOETH  SEA 

One  of  the  most  important  naval  battles  of  the  war  took 
place  on  January  24  in  the  North  Sea  between  a  British  bat- 
tle cruiser  squadron  under  Vice-Admiral  Sir  David  Beatty, 
comprising  the  battle  cruisers  Tiger,  Lion,  Princess  Boyal, 
New  Zealand  and  Indomitable,  assisted  by  a  few  light  cruisers 
and  destroyers,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  a  German 
squadron,  consisting  of  the  battle  cruisers  Derflinger,  Seyd- 
litz  and  Moltke,  the  armored  cruiser  Bluecher,  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  Kaiser's  navy,  and  several  light  cruisers. 

It  was  a  running  fight,  covering  over  one  hundred  miles 
and  lasting  four  hours.  At  the  end  of  this  time  the  German 
armored  cruiser  Bluecher  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  and 
two  of  the  German  battle  cruisers  had  been  damaged.  Two 
of  Vice-Admiral  Beatty's  ships  were  seriously  damaged, 
namely,  the  giant  battle  cruiser  Lion,  which  was  Sir  David's 
flagship,  and  the  torpedo  boat  destroyer  Meteor,  one  of  the 
largest  and  fastest  of  this  class  afloat.  However,  both  of 
these  vessels  were  safely  towed  into  port.  The  loss  in  men 
on  the  British  side  was  fourteen  killed  and  twenty-nine 
wounded,  while  on  the  side  of  the  Germans  only  125  of  the 
crew  of  850  men  on  the  Bluecher  were  saved;  lie  other  725 
went  down  with  the  ship. 


362  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

The  loss  of  the  Bluecher  was  the  hardest  blow  the  German 
navy  had  sustained  up  to  this  time,  as  she  was  one  of  the 
newest  and  best  vessels  of  her  class.  She  was  built  at  a  cost 
of  $6,750,000.  Her  speed  was  slower  than  that  of  the  other 
vessels  in  the  German  squadron,  which  doubtless  accounted 
for  her  loss.  The  battle  began  about  150  miles  from  Heligo- 
land and  ended  within  about  fifty  miles  of  this  German  naval 
base. 

Early  in  the  month  of  February,  England  threatened  to 
put  all  foodstuffs  destined  for  German  ports  on  the  contra- 
band list.  In  retaliation,  Germany,  on  February  4,  through 
Admiral  von  Pohl,  chief  of  the  admiralty  staff,  issued  a  proc- 
lamation designating  the  waters  around  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  as  a  war  area,  to  become  effective  February  18  and 
to  be  enforced  by  a  formidable  fleet  of  submarines,  the  object 
being  to  conduct  war  operations  in  this  area  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  commercial  ships  of  the  enemy. 

Just  at  this  time  the  great  passenger  steamship  Lusitania, 
in  her  passage  from  New  York  to  Liverpool,  hoisted  the  Amer- 
ican flag  while  sailing  through  the  Irish  Sea,  and  Germany 
charged  that  the  British  Admiralty  had  issued  confidential 
orders  to  captains  of  all  British  ships  to  sail  under  the  stars 
and  stripes  or  other  neutral  flags  when  necessary  to  use  this 
means  of  protection  against  destruction  by  the  warships  of 
the  enemy.  This  situation  seriously  menaced  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States  as  well  as  that  of  all  other  neutral 
nations,  and  the  American  Government,  therefore,  promptly 
issued  a  note  of  warning  to  both  belligerents  and  demanded 
in  strong  terms  the  protection  of  American  neutral  rights  on 
the  high  seas.  Germany  responded  promptly  and  promised  to 
use  every  precaution  to  protect  neutral  shipping,  but  pointed 
out  that  the  use  of  the  American  flag  by  British  ships  would 
make  it  difficult  to  distinguish  neutral  vessels  from  those  of 
the  enemy;  hence  neutral  shipping  was  urged  to  avoid  the 
indicated  war  area.  Great  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed 
the  right  to  use  neutral  flags  when  necessary  to  protect  human 
life  and  ships,  when  endangered  by  the  war  vessels  of  the 
enemy;  and  under  the  laws  of  warfare  and  customs  of  the 
nations  this  contention  was  correct. 

It  can  readily  be  seen  that  this  situation  placed  the  sea 
commerce  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  that  of  all  other 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  363 

neutral  countries,  im  a  most  dangerous  position.  Up  to  March 
1, 1915,  about  twenty  mftrchant  vessels  of  various  nationalities 
were  destroyed  or  damaged  in  the  war  zone  established  by 
Germany,  including  Dutch,  Norwegian,  Danish,  American  and 
British  ships. 

GEEAT  GEBMIlN  VIOTOBY  IN  EAST  PBUSSIA 

After  a  difficult  campaign  against  the  Eussian  invaders  in 
East  Prussia,  the  German  army,  by  the  masterly  strategy  of 
Field  Marshal  von  Hindenburg,  practically  annihilated  the 
Russian  Tenth  Army  of  150,000  men,  completing  the  task  Feb- 
ruary 20.  It  was  the  most  spectacular  campaign  in  the  his- 
tory of  modem  warfare. 

The  object  of  th©  German  commander  was  not  only  to  free 
East  Prussia  from  the  Eussism  invasion,  but  to  completely 
capture  the  Eussian  Tenth  Army.  He  sent  one  column  in 
from  the  south  to  drive  back  the  Eussians  who  occupied  the 
Mazurian  lake  gateway  to  East  Prussia,  and  another  column 
from  the  north  was  swung  around  in  wide  circles  to  the  east 
and  south,  aiming  to  join  hands  with  the  southern  German 
column,  thus  cutting  off  the  Eussian  retreat.  This  movement 
would  have  succeeded  absolutely  except  for  delay  in  passing 
through  the  swamps,  caused  by  mild  weather  which  broke  up 
the  ice.  A  commander  of  one  of  the  German  corps  said: 
''Nature  has  always  helped  Eussia.  Two  days  of  hard  frost 
and  we  should  have  had  every  man." 

In  the  south  also  nature  aided  the  Eussians.  There  the 
German  hosts  attacked  the  enemy  in  the  face  of  a  driving 
snowstorm  from  the  north,  which  hindered  their  operations 
but  did  not  prevent  them  from  gaining  a  victory  which  resulted 
in  freeing  Prussian  territory  from  the  invader. 

ATT.TTOt  FOROB  THE  DAEDAITELLES 

On  March  1  a  great  allied  fleet  of  forty  British  and  French 
warships,  having  reduced  the  forts  at  the  entrance  to  the 
Dardanelles,  was  on  its  way  through  the  straits  and  the  Sea  of 
Marmora  to  Constamtinople,  with  the  object  of  capturing  the 
city.  Panic  prevailed  in  the  Turkish  capital  at  the  approach 
of  the  fleet,  whila  for  the  first  time  in  history  hostile  flags 
flew  over  the  fort*  mL  tlM  momth  of  the  Dardan^ee^ 


364 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 


The  naval  operations  of  the  Allies  in  the  Dardanelles,  which 
began  on  February  17,  proceeded  without  any  serious  check 
for  a  month.  Mine  sweepers  were  in  daily  use,  to  clear  the 
channel  of  submerged  and  floating  mines,  and  the  forts  at  the 
Narrows,  several  miles  inside  the  entrance  of  the  straits,  were 
subject  to  bombardment  every  fine  day.  High  winds  and  fog 
hampered  the  operations  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Allies  under  Vice-Admiral  Garden  was  adamant 
and  would  not  be  denied.  They  were  determined  to  hammer 
their  way  through  to  the  Turkish  capital.  The  greatest  battle 
of  all  history  between  warships  and  shore  forts  was  the  result. 
Soon  after  the  bombardment  began  it  became  known  that  the 
allied  fleets  were  led  by  the  great  new  British  superdread- 
naught  Queen  Elizabeth,  launched  after  the  war  began  and 
armed  with  15-inch  g-uns  of  immense  range  which  proved  most 
effective  in  reducing  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  straits. 


FROM  THE  DARDANELLES  TO  THE  BLACK  SEA 


BMCK       S$A    M 


AKOBAN 


This  Map  Shows  the  Route  of  the  Allied  Fleets  on  the  Way  to  Constantinople. 
The  Principal  Fortified  Places  Are  Clearly  Indicated. 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAI{  365 

THEEE  WAKSHIPS  SUNK 

On  March  18  three  of  the  allied  warships  were  sunk  inside 
the  Dardanelles  and  two  crippled  by  the  Turks  during  a  bom- 
bardment in  which  ten  vessels  of  the  combined  fleet  partici- 
pated.   The  official  report  of  the  battle  was  as  follows : 

'  *  Mine-sweeping  having  been  in  progress  during  the  last  ten 
days  inside  the  straits,  a  general  attack  was  delivered  by  the 
British  and  French  fleets  on  Thursday  morning  upon  the  fort- 
resses at  the  Narrows.  At  10 :45  A.  M.  the  Queen  Elizabeth, 
Inflexible,  Agamemnon,  and  Lord  Nelson  bombarded  forts 
J,  L,  T,  IT  and  V,  while  the  Triumph  and  Prince  George  fired 
at  batteries  F,  E  and  H.  A  heavy  fire  was  opened  on  the  ships 
from  howitzers  and  field  guns. 

' '  At  12 :22  o  'clock  the  French  squadron,  consisting  of  the 
Suffren,  Gaulois,  Charlemagne  and  Bouvet,  advanced  up  the 
Dardanelles  and  engaged  the  forts  at  closer  range.  Forts 
I,  U,  F  and  E  replied  strongly.  Their  fire  was  silenced  by  the 
ten  battleships  inside  the  straits,  all  the  ships  being  hit  several 
times  during  this  part  of  the  action. 

* '  By  1 :25  P.  M.  all  the  forts  had  ceased  firing.  The  Ven- 
geance, Irresistible,  Albion,  Ocean,  Swiftsure  and  Majestic 
then  advanced  to  relieve  the  six  old  battleships  inside  the 
straits.  As  the  French  squadron,  which  had  engaged  the  forts 
in  a  most  brilliant  fashion,  was  passing  out,  the  Bouvet  was 
blown  up  by  a  drifting  mine.  She  sank  in  36  fathoms  north 
of  Arenkeuf  village  in  less  than  three  minutes. 

''At  2:23  P.  M.  the  relief  battleships  renewed  the  attack 
on  the  forts,  which  again  opened  fire.  The  attack  on  the  forts 
was  maintained  while  the  operations  of  the  mine-sweepers 
continued. 

' '  At  4 :09  P.  M.  the  Irresistible  quitted  the  line,  listing  heav- 
ily, and  at  5 :50  o  'clock  sank,  having  probably  struck  a  drifting 
mine.  At  6:05  o'clock  the  Ocean,  also  having  struck  a  mine, 
sank.  Both  vessels  sank  in  deep  water,  practically  the  whole 
of  their  crews  having  been  removed  safely  under  a  hot  fire. 
The  loss  of  the  ships  was  caused  by  mines  drifting  with  the 
current,  which  were  encountered  in  areas  hitherto  swept  clear. 

' '  The  British  casualties  in  personnel  were  not  heavy  con- 
sidering the  scale  of  the  operations,  but  practically  the  whole 
of  the  crew  of  the  Bouvet  were  lost  with  the  ship,  an  internal 


366  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

explosion  having  apparently  supervened  on  tlie  explosion  of 
the  mine."    [About  500  lives  were  lost  on  the  Bouvet.] 

On  March  16  Vice-Admiral  Garden,  who  had  been  incapaci- 
tated by  illness,  was  succeeded  in  the  chief  command  by  Eear- 
Admiral  John  Michael  De  Bobeck,  with  the  acting  rank  of 
vice-admiral. 

ADMIRAL  DE  EOBECk's   TEIBUTE   TO   THE   PEENCH 

After  the  engagement  of  March  18  Admiral  De  Eobeck  tele- 
graphed to  the  British  Admiralty  the  following  tribute  to  the 
gallantry  of  the  French  in  action : 

*'I  desire  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  your  Lordships  the  splen- 
did behavior  of  the  French  squadron.  Their  heavy  loss  leaves 
them  quite  undaunted.  They  were  led  into  close  action  by 
Rear- Admiral  Guepratte  with  the  greatest  gallantry." 

About  this  time  it  was  noted  by  the  press  and  generally 
commented  upon,  in  both  England  and  America,  that  the  Ad- 
miralty had  not  made  public  a  single  word  of  commendation 
for  the  work  of  the  British  navy  since  the  war  began.  This 
unusual  fact  was  interpreted  as  evidence  of  the  inflexible  pur- 
pose of  the  British  to  ignore  minor  losses  and  even  defeats 
until  the  main  battleship  fleets  of  the  belligerents  should  come 
to  grips  in  the  open  sea.  English  newspapers  began  to  taunt 
the  Germans  with  permitting  their  navy  to  **rust  in  the  Kiel 
Canal." 

The  sinking  of  the  battle  cruisers  Irresistible,  Ocean  and 
Bouvet  was  the  heaviest  loss  sustained  by  the  Allies  since  the 
war  began.  The  British  crews  were  rescued,  almost  to  a  man, 
and  the  loss  of  the  French  crew  was  due  mainly  to  the  internal 
explosion  following  that  of  the  mine.  All  the  ships  sunk 
were  of  the  earlier  pre-dreadnought  type.  On  the  same  day, 
March  18,  the  British  battle  cruiser  Inflexible  and  the  French 
battleship  Gaulois  were  put  out  of  commission  temporarily 
by  the  fire  of  the  Turkish  forts. 

The  Irresistible,  the  Ocean  and  the  Bouvet  were  all  sunk 
in  portions  of  the  straits  which  had  been  swept  clear  of  an- 
chored mines,  and  the  drifting  mines  which  proved  so  deadly 
were  undoubtedly  set  afloat  by  the  Turks,  probably  under  the 
direction  of  German  officers,  on  the  swift  current  of  the  Dar- 
danelles at  points  near  the  allied  ships  after  the  action  began. 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  367 

On  March  24  the  allied  fleets  renewed  with  vigor  their  at- 
tack upon  the  forts  at  the  Narrows  of  the  Dardanelles.  A 
large  body  of  troops  was  also  landed  upon  the  peninsula  of 
Gallipoli,  commanding  the  approach  to  Constantinople,  and 
the  Russian  Black  Sea  fleet  co-operated  by  a  bombardment 
of  the  Turkish  naval  base,  which  left  the  Turkish  fleet  without 
supplies  and  practically  paralyzed  its  movements. 

BATTLE  OF  NEUVE  CHAPELLE 

The  presence  of  part  of  Earl  Kitchener's  new  British  vol- 
unteer army  at  the  western  front  in  Belgium  and  France  was 
signalized  between  March  10  and  March  16,  when  the  British 
gained  a  series  of  successes  that  drew  marked  attention  to 
their  operations.  To  the  south  of  Ypres  in  Flanders  the  Brit- 
ish army,  which  a  German  attack  had  compelled  to  fall  back 
beyond  St.  Eloi,  recaptured  that  village  and  almost  all  of  the 
neighboring  German  trenches,  in  spite  of  several  counter- 
attacks. 

On  March  11  Field  Marshal  Sir  John  French  described 
the  fighting  which  led  to  the  capture  of  Neuve  Chapelle  in 
Northern  France  as  follows : 

"Since  my  last  communique  the  situation  on  our  front, 
between  Armentieres  and  La  Bassee,  has  been  materially  al- 
tered by  a  successful  initiative  on  the  part  of  the  troops  en- 
gaged. Shortly  after  8  A.  M.  on  March  10  these  troops 
assaulted  and  carried  German  trenches  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Neuve  Chapelle. 

"Before  noon  we  captured  the  w^hole  village  of  Neuve 
Chapelle.  Our  infantry  at  once  proceeded  to  confirm  and  ex- 
tend the  local  advantage  gained.  By  dusk  the  whole  laby- 
rinth of  trenches  on  a  front  about  4,000  yards  was  in  our  hands. 
We  had  established  ourselves  about  1,200  yards  beyond  the 
enemy's  advanced  trenches. 

"During  the  11th  the  enemy  made  repeated  efforts  to  re- 
cover the  gTound  lost.  All  his  counter-attacks  were  repulsed 
with  heavy  loss. 

"We  continue  to  make  steady  progress  and  hard  fighting 
continues.  The  local  initiative  displayed  by  our  troops  daily 
is  admirable.  It  says  much  for  the  spirit  which  animates  the 
army.  The  success  achieved  on  the  10th  and  11th  is  a  striking 
example." 


368  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

*'the  end  of  the  world'* 

An  officer  who  was  wounded  in  the  fighting  thus  vividly  de- 
scribes the  battle  of  Neuve  Chapelle : 

"Modern  warfare  is  such  an  infernal  business  that  any 
man  who  is  not  killed  ought  to  be  cheerful.  It  all  seems  like 
a  wild  dream  to  me.  I  never  heard  such  a  row  in  all  my  life. 
And  the  bullets  and  the  shells — it  was  like  passing  through 
the  most  awful  hail  storm. 

''We  were  in  our  trenches  at  dawn  when  suddenly  a  most 
infernal  din  commenced.  You  never  saw  such  a  sight;  you 
never  heard  such  a  noise.  I  heard  one  of  my  men  say,  'This 
is  the  end  of  the  world/  and  I  did  not  blame  him  for  thinking 
so.  We  could  see  in  the  distance  great  masses  of  flame,  earth 
and  brick  in  great  clouds  of  smoke,  all  ascending  together  as 
enormous  shells  screamed  over  our  heads  and  burst  among  the 
German  entrenchments  and  the  houses  of  the  village.  At  the 
end  of  a  half -hour 's  bombardment  the  fire  ceased  as  suddenly 
as  it  had  begun. 

"All  this  time  we  were  awaiting  the  order  to  advance  to- 
wards Aubers.  At  length  we  jumped  out  into  the  open.  The 
air  seemed  alive  with  bullets  and  shells.  There  was  a  buzzing 
noise,  such  as  you  hear  in  a  tropical  forest  on  a  hot  summer 
day.  On  we  moved,  until  we  came  to  an  open  stretch,  which 
v/as  being  swept  by  an  infernal  shell  fire.  We  crossed  this  in 
rushes  to  gain  the  shelter  of  a  few  houses,  losing  some  40_  or 
50  men.  There  we  remained  for  some  little  time,  reforming 
the  battalion  and  awaiting  further  orders.  When  these  came 
we  moved  forward  over  rough,  open  ground,  coming  upon  lots 
of  our  poor  fellows  lying  dead.  They  were  from  the  only 
battalion  which  had  preceded  us. 

"Then  we  entered  the  German  trenches  which  had  been 
captured.  Again  we  halted.  All  this  time  our  shells,  German 
shells  and  rifle  and  machine  gun  bullets  were  shrieking  over- 
head. 

' '  Thank  goodness,  in  an  action  like  this  you  seeem  to  lose 
your  senses !  A  kind  of  elevation  above  all  ordinary  feelings 
comes  over  vou  and  you  feel  as  though  you  were  rushing 
through  air.  There  is  so  much  to  frighten  you  that  you  cease 
to  be  afraid.  Then  your  senses  gradually  come  back.  That 
is  why  all  infantry  attacks  should  be  carried  through  with  one 
oversvhelming  rush." 


I  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAU  369 

GERMAN  ADVANCE  IN  POLAND 

On  March  12  two  German  armies  were  on  the  move  m 
Poland,  seeking  to  pierce  the  Russian  lines.  One  of  these 
armies  was  advancing  along  the  road  to  Przasnysz  with  the 
bank  of  the  River  Narew  as  its  objective.  This  was  the 
main  German  attack  and  inaugurated  one  of  the  biggest  battles 
of  the  war. 

Farther  south,  on  the  Pilica,  a  German  feint  w^as  in  prog- 
ress with  the  object  of  weakening  the  Russian  defense  in  the 
north.  But  while  Petrograd  seemed  to  be  resigning  itself 
to  the  idea  of  a  second  withdrawal  from  before  Przasnysz, 
there  was  little  doubt  of  the  ultimate  outcome  of  this  German 
attempt  to  gain  a  firm  footing  on  Russian  soil.  The  German 
troops  were  moved  forward  in  close  order  and  only  in  the 
daytime,  and  were  entirely  dependent  on  what  natural  cover 
they  could  find  between  the  rushes,  as  the  ground  was  frozen 
too  hard  to  permit  the  use  of  intrenching  tools. 

These  tactics  naturally  involved  very  heavy  losses.  The 
German  casualties  are  also  understood  to  have  been  extremely 
severe  around  Simno,  especially  on  their  extreme  left,  where 
they  lost  the  greater  part  of  their  transport.  It  appeared 
certain  that  the  Russians  had  fallen  back  before  an  onrush 
of  forces  of  overwhelming  numerical  superiority,  but  it  was 
equally  certain  that  with  every  yard  of  the  German  advance 
from  their  railways  the  shock  of  their  impact  weakened  while 
the  Russian  powers  of  resistance  were  enhanced. 

BRITISH  RELIEVE   THE  PRESSURE 

Just  as  the  French  attacked  the  Germans  in  the  western 
campaign  when  Field  Marshal  von  Hindenburg  made  his  rush 
from  East  Prussia  in  February,  so  the  British  army  operating 
in  Flanders  undertook  the  task  of  relieving  the  pressure  on 
its  Russian  ally  when  the  Russians  again  were  attacked  in. 
north  Poland.  This  was  part  of  the  general  plan  of  the  allied 
generals.  When  one  was  attacked  the  other  attacked,  so  as 
to  compel  the  Germans  and  Austrians  to  keep  strong  forces 
at  every  point,  and  endeavor  to  prevent  them  from  sending 
new  troops  where  they  could  do  the  most  good. 

In  March  the  Germans  were  occupied  in  an  attempt  to 
crush  the  Russians.  For  this  purpose  they  had  an  army  esti- 
mated at  nearly  half  a  million  men  marching  along  the  roads 


370  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

toward  Przasnysz.  To  prevent  this  army  from  being  further 
strengthened  the  British  began  to  thrust  at  the  German  line 
north  of  La  Bassee,  and  besides  reporting  the  capture  of  the 
village  of  Neuve  Chapelle,  they  advanced  beyond  that  town. 

BRITISH  AUXILIARY  CRUISER  LOST 

On  March  12  the  Admiralty  issued  a  report  of  the  loss  of 
the  large  British  auxiliary  cruiser  Bayano  while  on  naval 
patrol  duty  in  the  Irish  Sea.  Evidence  pointed  to  her  havmg 
been  torpedoed  by  a  German  submarine.  Only  27  of  the  Bay- 
ano's  crew  of  250  were  saved.  Fourteen  officers,  including 
the  commander,  went  down  with  the  ship.  The  Bayano  was 
a  new  twin  screw  steel  steamer  of  5,948  tons.  The  survivors 
were  afloat  on  a  raft  when  rescued.  The  loss  of  the  Bayano 
was  the  most  serious  of  the  submarine  blockade  of  the  British 
coasts  up  to  that  time. 

GERMAN  CRUISER  DRESDEN  SUNK 

For  several  months  British  warships  in  the  South  Atlantic 
and  South  Pacific  oceans  sought  in  vain  for  the  German  cruiser 
Dresden,  one  of  the  German  squadron  defeated  off  the  Falk- 
land Islands  by  Admiral  Sturdee  in  December,  when  she  was 
the  only  German  vessel  to  escape.  On  February  27  she  sank 
the  British  ship  Conway  Castle  off  Corral  in  the  South  Pacific, 
and  on  March  14  she  was  caught  near  Juan  Fernandez  Island 
by  the  British  cruisers  Glasgow  and  Kent  and  the  auxiliary 
cruiser  Orama.  An  action  ensued  and  after  five  minutes '  fight- 
ing the  Dresden  hauled  down  her  flag.  She  was  much  dam- 
aged and  set  on  fire,  and  after  she  had  been  burning  for  som.e 
time  her  magazine  exploded  and  she  sank.  The  crew  were 
saved.  Fifteen  badly  wounded  Germans  were  landed  at  Val- 
paraiso, and  the  remainder  of  the  crew  were  taken  on  board 
the  auxiliary  cruiser  Orama  as  prisoners  of  war. 

The  Dresden  was  a  sister  ship  of  the  famous  Emden,  and 
was  commissioned  in  October,  1907.  In  the  spring  of  1914  the 
Dresden  was  on  the  Caribbean  station,  and  was  lying  off  Tam- 
pico  when  the  American  forces  captured  Vera  Cruz.  Later 
on  in  the  summer  the  Dresden  was  the  vessel  on  which  Vic- 
toriano  Huerta,  upon  abandoning  Mexico,  traveled  from 
Puerta  to  Jamaica.  Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  Dres- 
den was  still  stationed  in  Central  American  waters,  and  for  a 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  371 

time  was  hunted  by  the  British  and  French  cruisers  in  the 
North  Atlantic.  She  steamed  south,  however,  and  after  sink- 
ing the  British  steamer  Hyades  and  the  Hohnwood  off  the 
coast  of  Brazil,  respectively,  on  August  16  and  26,  went  through 
the  Strait  of  Magellan  and  joined  Admiral  Count  Von  Spec's 
fleet  in  the  southern  Pacific. 

The  sinking  of  the  Dresden  left  at  large  on  the  high  seas, 
so  far  as  was  known,  only  the  German  cruiser  Karlsruhe,  last 
reported  as  operating  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  auxiliary 
cruiser  Kronprinz  Wilhelm,  which  was  still  raiding  commerce 
in  the  South  Atlantic. 

THE  FALL  OF  PEZEMYSL 

On  March  22  the  long  siege  of  Przemysl,  the  formidable 
Galioian  fortress  that  had  been  called  the  '  'key  to  the  Austrian 
empire, ' '  ended  with  the  surrender  of  the  city  to  the  Russians. 
The  siege  stands  as  the  fifth  longest  in  136  years,  having  lasted 
185  days,  surpassed  in  duration  only  by  the  sieges  of  Gibraltar, 
Sebastopol,  Vicksburg,  Richmond  and  Port  Arthur.  The  news 
of  the  Austrians '  surrender  was  the  most  important  that  had 
come  from  the  eastern  front  in  weeks.  For  six  months  the 
stronghold  had  withstood  assault,  remaining  a  constant  men- 
ace in  the  rear  of  the  Russian  advance  in  Galicia.  From  120,- 
€00  to  150,000  Russians  had  been  held  in  the  neighborhood  by 
the  necessity  of  masking  the  fortress.  Numerous  efforts  had 
been  made  to  reach  the  beleaguered  city  by  relieving  armies, 
but  each  in  turn  proved  unavailing,  though  for  a  time  in  De- 
cember it  appeared  likely  that  a  combined  German  and  Aus- 
trian army  would  succeed  in  raising  the  siege. 

TLe  fall  of  Przemysl  was  preceded  by  a  sortie  of  the  garri- 
son in  a  last  desperate  attempt  to  hack  its  way  through  the 
enemy's  lines.  After  a  seven  hours'  battle  they  were  com- 
pelled to  retreat  with  a  loss  of  nearly  4,000  prisoners.  Only 
three  days'  rations  were  left.  In  the  surrender  of  the  city 
the  Russians  announced  the  taking  of  nearly  120,000  prisoners, 
including  nine  generals,  93  officers  of  the  general  staff,  2,500 
officers  and  officials,  and  117,000  soldiers. 

Twenty-four  thousand  soldiers  of  the  Przemysl  garrison 
were  killed  during  the  long  siege,  according  to  dispatches  f  roni 
Petrograd.  Twenty  thousand  more  were  wounded  making 
the  total  casualties  of  the  Austrian  defenders  44,000  men. 


372  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

Depleted  by  disease,  subsisting  on  horseflesh,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  superior  force  of  Russians,  the  garrison  of 
Przemysl  was  forced  to  surrender,  but  fell  with  honor,  the 
gallant  character  of  the  defense  under  General  von  Kusmanek 
being  conceded  on  all  sides.  The  Eussian  eommander  who 
received  the  surrender  was  General  Seliwanoff.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  siege  a  Bulgarian,  General  Radko  Dimitrieff,  was 
in  command  of  the  investing  forces.  General  Seliwanoff  com- 
manded the  Russian  forces  at  Vladivostok  during  the  Russo- 
Japanese  war  of  1904-05. 

The  duration  of  the  siege  compared  with  the  length  of  time 
it  took  the  Germans  to  capture  such  strongholds  as  Liege, 
Namur  and  Antwerp  was  due  to  two  causes,  one  being  the 
desire  of  the  Russians  to  keep  the  loss  of  life  among  the  be- 
sieging army  at  a  minimum,  the  other  to  the  lack  of  great  guns 
which  the  Germans  had  in  Belgium. 

The  investment  was  not  a  close  one,  the  garrison  having 
had  a  radius  of  about  twelve  miles  in  which  to  move  about. 
An  aeroplane  post  was  maintained  almost  up  to  the  last,  and 
it  is  said  that  even  some  scanty  food  supplies  were  carried 
in  by  aeroplane. 

Although  the  victory  was  a  big  one,  it  cost  the  Russians 
dearly.  It  is  estimated  that  150,000  Russians  were  killed  and 
wounded  during  the  months  that  the  siege  went  on.  Not  only 
were  many  Russians  killed  by  the  efficient  fire  of  the  Austrian 
gunners,  but  the  fierce  sorties  where  attackers  and  defenders 
fought  hand-to-hand  resulted  in  heavy  casualties. 

Przemysl  was  the  greatest  fortress  in  the  Austrian  empire. 
Hill,  rock,  marsh  and  river  combined  to  give  it  strength  and 
the  work  of  nature  had  been  supplemented  by  the  labors  of 
the  finest  military  engineers  in  central  Europe.  The  gallant 
defense  which  the  garrison  put  up  for  185  days  is  recorded  as 
Austria's  most  noteworthy  contribution  to  the  war.  For  a 
long  time  the  fortress  had  faced  famine. 

With  the  fall  of  Przemysl  the  only  important  fortified  town 
in  Austrian  Galicia  which  was  not  in  the  hands  of  the  Russians 
was  Cracow,  close  to  the  German  border.  A  large  Russian 
army  with  artillery  was  released  for  action.  The  Russian  left 
wing  stretched  from  the  province  of  BukoAvina  on  the  south- 
east to  Tarnow  and  the  Vistula  River  near  Cracow  on  the  west. 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  373 

OIT  THE  EASTEEN  FEONT 

On  the  eastern  front  of  the  stupendous  battle  line  in  March 
the  most  sanguinary  fighting  of  the  war  occurred.  Losses  on 
both  sides  were  appalling,  while  the  gains  in  territorial  ac- 
quisition amounted  to  little  or  nothing. 

Describing  the  enormous  losses  on  both  sides  in  Poland, 
a  neutral  observer,  Mr.  Stanley  Washburn,  said  in  the  Amer- 
ican Review  of  Reviews : 

''The  German  program  contemplated  taking  both  "Warsaw 
and  Ivangorod  and  the  holding  for  the  winter  of  the  line  be- 
tween the  two  formed  by  the  Vistula.  The  Russians  took  the 
offensive  from  Ivangorod,  crossed  the  river,  and  after  hid- 
eous fighting  fairly  drove  Austrians  and  Germans  from  posi- 
tions of  great  strength  around  the  quaint  little  Polish  to^Ti 
of  Kozienice.  From  this  toAvn  for  perhaps  ten  miles  west, 
and  I  know  not  how  far  north,  and  south  there  is  a  belt  of 
forest  of  fir  and  spruce.  Near  Kozienice  the  Russian  infantry, 
attacking  in  flank  and  front,  fairly  wrested  the  enemy's  posi- 
tion and  drove  him  back  into  this  jungle.  The  Russians  sim- 
ply sent  their  troops  in  after  them. 

"The  fight  was  now  over  a  front  of  perhaps  twenty  kilo- 
meters; there  was  no  strategy.  It  was  all  very  simple.  In 
this  belt  were  Germans  and  Austrians.  They  were  to  be 
driven  out  if  it  took  a  month.  Then  began  the  carnage.  Day 
after  day  the  Russians  fed  troops  in  on  their  side  of  the  wood. 
Companies,  battalions,  regiments,  and  even  brigades,  were 
absolutely  cut  off  from  all  communication.  None  knew  what 
was  going  on  anywhere  but  a  few  feet  in  front.  All  knew  that 
the  only  thing  required  of  them  was  to  keep  advancing. 

"Yard  by  yard  the  ranks  and  lines  of  the  Austrians  were 
driven  back,  but  the  nearer  their  retreat  brought  them  to  the 
open  country  west  of  the  wood  the  hotter  was  the  contest 
waged.  The  last  two  kilometers  of  the  woody  belt  are  some- 
thing incredible  to  behold;  there  seems  hardlv  an  acre  that 
is  not  sown  like  the  scene  of  a  paperchase — only  here  with 
bloody  bandages  and  bits  of  uniform.  Men  fighting  hand  to 
hand  with  clubbed  muskets  and  bayonets  contested  each  tree 
and  ditch.  The  end  was,  of  course,  inevitable.  The  troops  of 
the  dual  alliance  could  not  fill  their  Tosses,  and  the  Russians 
could. 


374  LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

"At  last  came  the  day  when  the  dirty,  grimy,  bloody  sol- 
diers of  the  Czar  pushed  their  antagonists  out  of  the  far  side 
of  the  woodland — and  what  a  scene  occurred  in  that  open  bit 
of  country  with  the  quaint  little  village  of  Augustowo  at  the 
crossroads !  Once  out  in  the  open  the  hungry  guns  of  the  Eus- 
sians,  so  long  yapping  ineffectively  without  knowing  what 
their  shells  were  doing,  had  their  chance.  Down  every  road 
through  the  forest  came  the  six-horse  teams  with  the  guns 
jumping  and  jingling  behind,  with  their  accompanying  cais- 
sons heavy  with  death-charged  shrapnel,  and  the  moment  the 
enemy  were  in  the  clear  these  batteries,  eight  guns  to  a  unit, 
were  unlimbered  on  the  fringe  of  the  wood  and  pouring  out 
their  death  and  destruction  on  the  wretched  enemy  now  re- 
treating hastily  across  the  open.  And  the  place  where  the  Rus- 
sians first  turned  loose  on  the  retreat  is  a  place  to  remember. 

''Dead  horses,  bits  of  men,  blue  uniforms,  shattered  trans- 
port, overturned  gun-carriages,  bones,  broken  skulls,  and 
grisly  bits  of  humanity  strew  every  acre  of  the  ground. 

ENOEMOUS  LOSSES  ON  BOTH  SIDES 

**A  Russian  officer  who  seemed  to  be  in  authority  on  this 
gruesome  spot  volunteered  the  information  that  already  they 
had  buried  at  Kozienice,  in  the  wood  and  on  this  open  spot, 
16,000  dead.  Those  that  had  fallen  in  the  open  and  along  the 
road  had  been  decently  interred,  as  the  forests  of  crosses  for 
ten  miles  along  that  bloody  way  clearly  indicated,  but  back  in 
the  woods  themselves  were  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  bodies 
that  lay  as  they  had  fallen.  Sixteen  thousand  dead  means  at 
least  70,000  casualties  all  told,  or  35,000  on  a  side  if  losses  were 
equally  distributed.  And  this,  figured  on  the  basis  of  the 
16,000  dead  already  buried,  without  allowing  for  the  numbers 
of  the  fallen  that  still  lie  about  in  the  woods.  And  vet  here 
is  a  battle  the  name  of  which  is  hardly  more  than  kno^vn  in 
America,  yet  the  losses  on  both  sides  amount  to  more  than  the 
entire  army  that  General  Meade  commanded  at  the  Battle  of 
Gettysburg. 

''He  who  has  the  heart  to  walk  about  in  this  ghastly  place 
can  read  the  last  sad  moments  of  almost  every  corpse.  Here 
one  sees  a  blue-coated  Austrian  with  leg  shattered  bv  a  jagged 
bit  of  a  shell.     The  trouser  perhaps  has  been  ripped  open 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAk         375 

and  clumsy  attempts  been  made  to  dress  the  wound,  while  a 
great  splotch  of  red  shows  where  the  fading  strength  was  ex- 
hausted before  the  flow  of  life's  stream  could  be  checked. 
Here  again  is  a  body  with  a  ghastly  rip  in  the  chest,  made 
perhaps  by  bayonet  or  shell  fragment.  Frantic  hands  now 
stiffened  in  death  are  seen  trying  to  hold  together  great  wounds 
from  which  life  must  have  flowed  in  a  few  great  spurts  of 
blood.  And  here  it  is  no  fiction  about  the  ground  being  soaked 
with  gore.  One  can  see  it, — coagulated  like  bits  of  raw  liver, 
while  great  chunks  of  sand  and  earth  are  in  lumps,  held  to- 
gether by  this  human  glue.  Other  bodies  lie  in  absolute  peace 
and  serenity.  Struck  dead  with  a  rifle  ball  through  the  heart 
or  some  other  instantly  vital  spot.  These  lie  like  men  asleep, 
and  on  their  faces  is  the  peace  of  absolute  rest  and  relaxation, 
but  of  these  alas!  there  are  few  compared  to  the  ones  upon 
whose  pallid,  blood-stained  faces  one  reads  the  last  frantic 
agony  of  death. 

*'The  soldiers  themselves  go  on  from  battlefield  to  battle- 
field, from  one  scene  of  carnage  to  another.  They  see  their 
regiments  dwindle  to  nothing,  their  officers  decimated,  three- 
fourths  of  their  comrades  dead  or  wounded,  and  yet  each  night 
they  gather  about  their  bivouacs  apparently  undisturbed  by 
it  all.  One  sees  them  on  the  road  the  day  after  one  of  these 
desperate  fights  marching  cheerfully  along,  singing  songs  and 
laughing  and  joking  with  one  another.  This  is  morale  and  it 
is  of  the  stuff  that  victories  are  made.  And  of  such  is  the  fiber 
of  the  Eussian  soldier,  scattered  over  these  hundreds  of  miles 
of  front  to-day.  He  exists  in  millions  and  has  abiding  faith 
in  his  companions,  in  his  officers,  and  in  his  cause." 

TERRIFIC  FIGHTING  IN  MIDWINTER 

Writing  of  the  desperate  fighting  in  Poland  in  midwinter 
when  the  Germans  made  a  tremendous  effort  to  pierce  the 
Eussian  lines  on  the  Bzura  and  Eawka  front,  with  Warsaw 
as  their  objective  point,  an  American  correspondent,  Mr.  John 
F.  Bass,  said :  ' '  The  fighting  was  terrific.  The  detonations  of 
the  cannon  came  in  such  rapid  succession  that  they  sounded 
like  giant  machine  guns  and  the  windows  of  the  dressing  sta- 
tions for  the  wounded  shook  as  if  from  an  earthquake.  It  was 
nov  possible  to  distinguish  individual  gun  explosions  from  the 
^ttle  of  the  infantry  fire.    All  were  mingled  in  one  inarticu- 


376         LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

\aiQ  battle  shriek.  At  night,  as  in  a  furious  thunderstorm, 
the  darkness  was  pierced  with  the  unintermittent  flashes  of 
the  guns,  while  sickly  green  rockets  shed  a  ghastly  light  over 
the  fighting  lines.  The  wounded  brought  in  filled  the  hospitals 
to  overflowing. 

* '  It  was  estimated  by  the  Russians  that  the  Germans  lost 
60,000  men.  I  was  told  by  an  officer  that  the  bodies  of  German 
soldiers  were  piled  up  before  the  Russian  trenches  in  many  of 
the  assaults  so  high  that  German  shells  bursting  among  them 
threw  mangled  pieces  of  human  beings  into  the  trenches  among 
the  Russians. 

"At  night,  under  the  glare  of  search-lights,  the  undulat- 
ing mass  of  wounded  made  efforts  to  extricate  themselves. 
Then,  toward  2  o  'clock  in  the  morning,  they  moved  no  more. '  * 
The  winter  cold  had  done  its  deadly  work. 

FRENCH  MAKE  GAINS  IN  MAECH 

In  the  Champagne  country  of  northern  France  the  month 
of  March  was  marked  by  almost  continuous  fighting  of  the 
fiercest  character.  French  advices  from  Chalons-sur-Mame 
on  March  29  were  to  the  effect  that  11,000  German  dead  had 
been  taken  from  the  trenches  won  by  the  French  in  the  previous 
twenty  days  and  that  the  total  German  losses  during  that  time 
in  the  Champagne  district  exceeded  50,000  in  killed,  wounded 
and  prisoners. 

STIERINQ  EVENTS   OF   THE  SPRING 

All  through  the  month  of  April  the  days  were  crowded  with 
important  occurrences  east  and  west  along  the  battle  lines.  The 
Eussian  movement  across  the  Carpathians  was  pressed  with  vigor 
and  some  of  the  fiercest  fighting  of  the  war  resulted,  as  the  com- 
bined German  and  Austrian  troops  resisted  the  Russian  advance 
into  Hungary. 

Early  in  the  spring  the  'British  forces  gained  a  notable  victory 
at  Neuve  Chapelle  in  the  western  theater  of  war.  Then  the  German 
forces  in  Flanders  were  heavily  reinforced  until  it  was  estimated 
that  they  numbered  not  less  than  half  a  million  men,  gathered  for 
the  purpose  of  smashing  the  line  of  the  Allies  at  the  strategic  point 
where  the  British  and  the  Belgian  troops  were  in  touch  with  one 
another.  Here,  for  three  days,  the  Germans  succeeded  in  pushing 
forward,  driving  a  wedge  for  several  miles  into  the  line  of  the 
allied  armies  of  England,  France  and  Belgium.    And  here,  too,  the 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  377 

Canadian  division  of  the  British  army  covered  itself  with  glory 
and  once  more  demonstrated  the  value  to  the  British  empire  of  the 
** lion's  whelps."  On  one  notable  occasion,  destined  to  be  recorded 
in  history  as  a  red-letter  day  for  Canadian  arms,  the  gaUant  fellows 
from  the  great  Dominion  "saved  the  situation,"  to  quote  from  the 
report  of  Field  Marshal  French,  by  a  splendid  charge,  during  which 
they  recaptured  from  the  Germans  four  of  their  field  guns  that  had 
been  lost  the  day  before. 

HOW   CANADIAN   COMMANDER  DIED   LEADING   YPBES   CHARGE 

From  Sir  Max  Ait  ken's  official  account  of  the  battle  of  Ypres. 

*  *  It  did  not  seem  that  any  human  being  could  live  in  the  shower 
of  shot  and  shell  which  began  to  play  on  the  advancing  troops. 
They  suffered  terrible  casualties.  For  a  short  time  every  other  man 
seemed  to  fall,  but  the  attack  was  pressed  even  closer  and  closer. 
The  4th  Canadian  battalion  at  one  moment  came  under  a  particu- 
larly withering  fire.     For  a  moment  it  wavered. 

"Its  most  gallant  commanding  officer,  Lieut.-Col.  Birchall,  car- 
rying, after  an  old  fashion,  a  light  cane,  cooUy  and  cheerfully  rallied 
his  men  and  at  the  very  moment  when  his  example  had  infected 
them,  fell  dead  at  the  head  of  his  battalion. 

"With  a  cry  of  anger  they  sprang  forward  as  if  to  avenge  his 
death.  The  astonishing  attack  which  followed,  pushed  home  in  the 
face  of  direct  frontal  fire  made  in  broad  daylight  by  battalions 
whose  names  should  live  forever  in  the  memories  of  soldiers,  was 
carried  to  the  first  line  of  German  trenches.  After  a  hand-to-hand 
struggle  the  last  German  who  resisted  was  bayoneted  and  the 
trench  was  won. 

"It  was  clear  that  several  German  divisions  were  attempting 
to  crush  or  drive  back  the  Third  Brigade  and  to  sweep  around  and 
overwhelm  our  left  wing.  The  last  attempt  partially  succeeded. 
German  troops  swung  past  the  unsupported  left  of  the  brigade  and, 
slipping  in  between  the  wood  and  St.  Julien,  added  to  our  torturing 
anxieties  by  apparently  isolating  us  from  the  brigade  base. 

"In  the  exertions  made  by  the  Third  Brigade  during  this  supreme 
crisis.  Major  Norsworthy,  already  almost  disabled  by  a  bullet  wound,  i 
was  bayoneted  and  killed.    Captain  McQuaig  of  the  same  battalion 
was  seriously  wounded.    , 

"General  Curry  flung  his  left  flank  around  and  in  the  crisis  of 
this  immense  struggle  held  his  trenches  from  Thursday  afternoon 
xmtil  Sunday  afternoon.  He  did  not  abandon  them  then.  There 
were  none  left.    They  had  been  obliterated  by  artillery. 

"He  withdrew  his  undefeated  troops  from  the  fragments  of 
his  field  fortifications  and  the  hearts  of  his  men  were  as  completely 
unbroken  as  the  i>arapets  of  his  trenches  were  completely  broken. 

''The  Ninetieth  'Winnipeg  Rifles,  which  held  the  extrcMte  left 


til 


378        LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR 

of  the  brigade  position  at  tlie  most  critical  moment,  was  expelled 
from  the  trenches  early  Friday  morning  by  an  emission  of  poisonous 
gas,  but  recovering  in  three-quarters  of  an  hour  it  counter-attacked, 
retook  the  trenches  it  had  abandoned  and  bayoneted  the  enemy. 

"General  Alderson,  commanding  the  reinforcements,  directed 
an  advance  by  a  British  brigade  which  had  been  brought  up  in 
support. 

"As  the  troops  making  it  swept  through  the  Canadian  left  and 
center,  many  of  th«m  going  to  certain  death,  they  paused  for  an 
instant  with  deep-throated  cheers  for  Canada,  indicating  the  warm 
admiration  which  the  Canadians'  exertions  had  excited  in  the 
British  army. 

"On  Monday  morning  General  Curry  was  again  called  upon  to 
lead  his  shrunken  Second  Brigade,  reduced  to  a  quarter  of  its 
original  strength,  into  action  at  the  apex  of  the  line,  which  position 
the  brigade  held  all  that  day.  On  Wednesday  it  was  relieved  and 
retired  to  the  rear.  'Not  a  Canadian  gun  was  lost  in  the  long 
battle  of  retreat.'  " 

Concluding  his  account.  Sir  Max  wrote:  "The  empire  is  en- 
gaged in  a  struggle  without  quarter  and  without  compromise 
against  an  enemy  still  superbly  organised,  still  immensely  powerful, 
still  confident  that  its  strength  is  the  mate  of  its  necessity.  To 
arms  then,  and  still  to  arms !  The  graveyard  of  Canada  in  Flanders 
is  very  large." 

GERMAN  DRIVE  TO  THE  COAST 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  spring  campaign,  it  was  realized 
by  the  Allies  that  the  German  general  staff  was  preparing  for  a 
determined  drive  to  the  coast  through  the  British  and  Belgian  lines 
that  protected  the  approach  to  Calais.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 
the  British  took  the  offensive  at  Neuve  Chapelle  and  at  the  im- 
portant strategic  point  known  as  Hill  60.  The  purpose  of  Field 
Marshal  French  was  to  strike  the  first  blow,  and  the  attacks  were 
seemingly  successful;  but  later  news  from  the  front  showed  that 
"something  went  wrong"  at  Neuve  Chapelle,  which  in  a  large 
measure  upset  the  British  plans. 

At  HiU  No.  60,  though  the  British  captured  that  important 
position,  they  were  held  back  from  further  advance.  Then  came 
the  long-expected  German  attack  in  the  direction  of  Ypres,  which 
was  considered  as  one  of  the  keys  to  the  French  seaport  of  Calais. 
By  this  attack  the  Allies  were  forced  back  from  the  Ypres  canal, 
and  the  pofiitiona  gained  by  the  Germans  brouglit  them  within 
twenty-five  milea  of  the  coast  at  Dunkirk. 

The  fiffhtiM^  at  Neuve  Chapelle,  Hill  60  and  Ypres  was  prob- 
ably the  tacmt  ttutguhnkry  of  the  entire  war  up  to  that  time.  The 
loasM  oa  hoik  oidw  were  enormous.  Germans,  British,  Belgians 
and  Ft««c1i  w»r«  kiiled  literally  br  the  tkoHsand,  the  British  losses 


LATER  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  379 

at  Neuve  Cbapelle  alone  being  estimated  at  20,000,  while  the  German 
ca.sualties  in  forcing  the  passage  of  the  Ypres  canal  a  few  days 
later  exceeded  9,000  men. 

PRAISE  FOR  THE  CANADIANS 

It  was  in  the  most  furious  conflict  of  the  western  campaign — a 
battle  between  Langemarcke  and  Steenstrate,  in  Flanders — that  the 
Canadian  troops  saved  the  British  army  from  what  seemed  almost 
inevitable  defeat.  The  Canadian  division  was  in  the  front  line  of 
the  British  forces  on  April  23,  when  the  Germans  made  their  sudden 
assaults  and  broke  through  the  line  for  a  distance  of  five  miles. 
Only  the  brilliant  counter-charges  of  the  Canadians  saved  the  situ- 
ation. They  had  many  casualties,  but  their  gallantry  and  determina- 
tion brought  success  and,  in  the  language  of  the  official  report  of 
the  prolonged  battle,  ''their  conduct  was  magnificent  throughout." 

The  correspondent,  describing  the  harrowing  scene  of  the 
battle  on  April  23,  said:  "Long  ago  Kitchener's  army  was  given 
its  baptism  of  fire,  but  yesterday  it  got  its  initiation  into  hell. ' ' 

In  their  great  effort  to  smash  the  Allies  on  the  Yser  the  Ger- 
mans also  sustained  terrible  losses.  By  April  27  it  was  asserted 
that  the  German  force  that  managed  to  pass  the  Yser  and  took 
possession  of  the  town  of  Lizeme  had  been  practically  annihilated. 
The  fighting  was  said  to  have  been  far  more  terrible  than  that  of 
the  autumn  of  1914,  when  the  Yser  canal  ran  red  with  blood. 

It  was  charged  by  the  Allies  that  in  the  fighting  in  Flanders 
late  in  April  the  Germans  used  asphyxiating  gases,  which  placed 
thousands  of  the  allied  troops  hors  de  comhat,  including  many  of 
the  Canadian  division.  Strong  protects  against  the  German  use 
of  such  methods  were  voiced  by  the  allied  generals,  and  a  formal 
denunciation  was  made  by  Lord  Kitchener  in  the  British  parliament. 

ALLIED   TROOPS   AT   THE   DARDANELLES 

On  April  25-27,  a  strong  force  of  British  and  French  troops 
under  General  Sir  Dan  Hamilton  effected  a  landing  on  both  sides 
of  the  Dardanelles,  to  co-operate  with  the  allied  fleets  seeking  to 
force  a  passage  through  the  straits  to  the  Bosporus.  The  landing 
was  resisted  by  Turkish  troops,  but  the  Allies  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing themselves  on  the  Gallipoli  peninsula  by  May  1,  and  made 
several  thousand  Turks  prisoners  of  war.  The  bombardment  of 
the  Turkish  forts  in  the  Dardanelles  by  the  allied  warships  was 
continued. 

The  French  cruiser  Leon  Gambetta,  with  a  displacement  of 
12,351  tons  and  crew  of  714  men,  commanded  by  Rear  Admiral 
Fenet,  cruising  at  the  entrance  of  the  Otranto  canal  in  the  Ionian 
sea,  was  torpedoed  the  night  of  April  26th  by  the  Austrian  sub- 
marine U-5,  and  went  to  the  bottom  in  ten  minutes;  578  lives  were 
lost;  all  officers  on  board,  including  Rear  Admiral  Fenet,  perished. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
SINKING  OF   THE   LUSITANIA 

Destruction  of  the  Great  Cunard  Liner  hy  a  German  Sub- 
marine Causes  a  Serious  Crisis  in  German- Aynerican 
Relations — Over  a  Hundred  Americans  and  Many 
Canadians  Drowned,  Including  Citizens  of  Prominence 
and  Wealth — Prompt  Diplomatic  Action  hy  President 
Wilson — The  German  Campaign  of  Frightfulness  and 
Its  Results. 

STEAMING  majestically  over  a  smiling  sea,  with  the  green  hills 
of  Erin  in  sight  over  the  port  bow  and  all  well  a'board,  the 
greatest,  fastest  and  most  beautiful  transatlantic  liner  in  com- 
mission was  nearing  the  end  of  her  voyage  from  New  York  to 
Liverpool,  It  was  the  hour  after  luncheon  on  the  great  ship,  the 
hour  of  the  siesta  or  the  promenade,  the  most  peaceful  hour  of  the 
day.  Little  children  by  the  score  played  merrily  about  the  great 
decks;  families  and  friends  foregathered  in  the  lounges  or  beside 
the  rail  to  watch  the  Irish  coast  slip  by;  all  the  internal  economy 
of  the  giant  ship  moved  smoothly,  as  if  by  clockwork. 

It  was  more  than  a  floating  hotel,  replete  with  comfort  and 
luxury.  It  was  a  floating  town,  with  a  whole  townful  of  people. 
Over  fourteen  hundred  men,  women  and  children  were  on  the 
passenger  list  and  six  hundred  men  in  the  Cunard  uniform  con- 
stituted the  crew.  Among  the  passengers  were  many  citizens  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  there  was  an  unusually  large 
proportion  of  women  and  children  on  board,  the  families  of  men 
who  had  been  drawn  into  the  maelstrom  of  war. 

For  in  spite  of  the  calm  and  peace  prevailing  on  the  great  passen- 
ger ship,  the  shadow  of  war  impended  over  all.  The  bloody  strug- 
gles of  the  great  European  cataclysm  were  proceeding  at  the  other 
end  of  the  English  Channel  and  dire  hints  of  dangers  on  the  sea  in 
the  "war  zone"  had  accompanied  the  sailing  of  the  ship.  'But  on 
this  bright  May  day,  as  the  liner  approached  its  destination,  danger 
seemed  far  distant  and  few  indeed  among  passengers  or  crew 
gave  serious  thought  to  its  imminence. 

380 


SINKING  OF  THE  LU  SIT  AN  I A  381 

All  was  truly  well  on  board.  The  skies  were  clear,  the  sea  was 
smooth,  and  though  the  myriad  passengers  realized  that  they  had 
entered  a  danger  zone  of  the  world's  greatest  war  they  had  abound- 
ing confidence  in  the  giant  ship,  in  its  veteran  commander,  and  in 
the  line  to  which  it  belonged,  that  had  never  yet  lost  the  life  of  a 
single  passenger  committed  to  its  care.  And  confidently  they 
looked  forward  to  a  safe  arrival  in  port  next  morning,  the  happy 
ending  of  a  wartime  voyage  which  the  children  on  board,  and  their 
children's  children,  should  recall  with  pride  for  a  century  to  come. 
BUT— 

Right  ahead  in  the  path  of  the  floating  palace,  athwart  the  pre- 
scribed course  of  the  Lusitania  there  lurked  the  deadliest  slink- 
ing serpent  of  the  seas — the  tiny  volcanic  hull  of  an  enemy  sub- 
marine, most  dangerous  of  war's  new  weapons.  Lying  leisurely  in 
wait,  its  body  submerged  just  beneath  the  swelling  undulations  of  a 
summer  sea,  invisible,  ruthless,  insatiable ;  only  the  protrusion  of  a 
foot  or  so  of  periscopic  tube  betokened  its  presence  without  be- 
traying its  purpose.  But  in  that  innocent-looking  tube  lay  vast  po- 
tentialities for  evil — ^nay,  devilish  certainties  of  dealing  death  and 
destruction.  For  the  little  steel-encased  arrangement  of  lenses  and 
mirrors  peeping  from  the  depths  was  the  mechanical  eye  of  the  sub- 
marine and  sufficed  to  betray  to  watchful  Teutons  below  the  ap- 
proach of  the  great  ship,  treasure  laden  with  human  freight  of 
non-combatants  and  neutrals,  but  flying  the  flag  of  the  German's 
foe. 

For  the  crew  of  the  submarine  "der  Tag"  had  come.  Without 
a  thought  of  the  innocents  and  neutrals  aboard;  reckless  alike  of  im- 
mediate results  and  ultimate  consequences,  animated  only  by  the 
deadly  designs  of  a  war-madness  and  a  deliberate  campaign  of 
frightfulness,  the  firing  signal  was  flashed  from  the  German  com- 
mander's station  and  the  fatal  torpedo  was  launched  against  the 
unsuspecting  and  unprotected  leviathan.  Traveling  true  to  its  mark, 
it  tore  its  frightful  way  through  the  thin  sheathing  of  the  ship  and, 
exploding  on  impact,  pierced  her  vitals  and  sealed  her  doom.  *  *    * 

Barely  a  quarter  of  an  hour  elapsed  before  the  giant  vessel  dis- 
appeared from  sight,  plunging  bow  foremost  to  the  bottom  in  waters 
scarcely  more  than  one-third  of  her  length  in  depth,  so  that  the 
shock  of  her  bow  striking  the  bottom  of  the  sea  was  felt  by  the 
gallant  captain  on  the  bridge  before  he  was  torn  loose  from  his 
ill-fated  vessel. 

And  when  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  closed  over  the  hull  of  the 
Lusitania,  within  sight  of  the  Irish  coast  on  that  fatal  Friday,  the 
lives  of  over  eleven  hundred  non-combatant  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, including  more  than  a  hundred  American  neutrals,  were  ruth- 
lessly sacrificed  to  the  Teuton  god  of  war. 


CHAPTER  XXIV  > 

A  SUMMEE  OF  SLAUGHTER 

Submarine  Activities — Horrors  in  Serbia — Bloody  Battles 
East  and  West — Italy  Enters  the  War  and  Invades 
Austria — Russians  Pushed  Back  in  Galicia. 

The  Lusitania  was  the  twenty-ninth  vessel  to  be  sunk  or  dam- 
aged in  the  first  week  of  ^lay,  1915,  in  the  war  zone  established  by 
Germany  about  the  British  isles.  Most  of  these  vessels  were  tor- 
pedoed by  German  submarines,  although  in  some  cases  it  has  not 
been  established  whether  the  damage  was  inflicted  by  mines  or 
underwater  boats. 

Sixteen  of  the  twenty-nine  vessels  were  British  trawlers.  There 
were  four  British  and  one  French  merchantman  in  the  list.  The 
others  were  vessels  of  neutral  nations. 

One  of  them  was  the  American  steamer  Gulflight,  torpedoed  off 
Scilly  islands  on  May  1,  with  the  loss  of  three  lives.  There  were 
three  Norwegian,  two  Swedish,  and  one  Danish  merchant  vessel 
sunk. 


BLOODY  BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST. 
The  second  week  in  May  saw  minor  German  successes  on  the 
western  front,  but  these  were  immediately  succeeded  by  determined 
efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Allies  to  retrieve  lost  ground.  The  week 
of  May  10  to  15  was  marked  by  fierce  assaults  by  the  British  and 
French  upon  the  German  positions  in  Flanders  and  northern  France. 
Thousands  of  lives  were  sacrificed  on  both  sides.  At  one  point  on 
the  Yser  where  the  Germans  were  beaten  back,  they  left  2,000  dead 
on  the  field,  but  this  was  only  a  small  percentage  of  the  total  losses 
during  this  series  of  engagements  in  May.  Around  Ypres  early 
in  the  month  the  Canadians  lost  heavily,  but  made  a  splendid  record 
for  gallantry  and  endurance  in  the  face  of  odds.  The  Germans 
began  at  this  time  the  use  of  asphyxiating  gases  in  their  attacks. 
The  results  were  horrifying  in  the  extreme,  and  as  these  inhuman 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER  38o 

assaults  witli  gas  were  continued,  the  Allies  prepared  to  adopt  the 
use  of  similar  noxious  gases  by  way  of  retaliation. 

BRITISH  WAESHIP  TOEPEDOED. 

On  May  12  the  British  warship  Goliath  was  sunk  by  a  Turkish 
torpedo  during  the  continued  attack  by  the  Allies  on  the  Darda- 
nelles. Twenty  officers  and  160  men  of  the  crew  were  saved  and 
over  500  lives  were  lost.  The  Goliath  was  one  of  the  older  British 
battleships  of  the  pre-dreadnaught  type.  She  was  built  in  1898, 
was  400  feet  long  and  74  feet  wide,  with  a  displacement  of  12,950 
tons.  Her  armament  consisted  of  four  twelve-inch  and  twelve  six- 
inch  gims,  twelve  twelve-pounders,  six  three-pounders,  tand  two 
machine  guns. 

In  the  determined  attack  on  the  Dardanelles,  land  forces  of 
British  and  French  troops  co-operated  with  the  combined  fleets. 
The  Turks  made  a  stubborn  resistance,  but  were  compelled  to  give 
way  gradually  before  the  terrific  bombardment  of  the  warships  and 
the  persistent  attacks  by  land.  In  the  fighting  on  the  Gallipoli 
peninsula  the  British  colonial  troops  from  New  Zealand  covered 
themselves  with  glory,  fighting  like  veterans  and  breaking  down 
Turkish  opposition  with  the  bayonet.  On  May  19  one  of  the  most 
important  forts  at  the  Narrows,  guarding  the  entrance  to  the  Sea 
of  Marmora,  was  silenced  by  the  warships'  fire,  and  this  was  an 
important  step  on  the  Allies*  way  to  Constantinople. 

Meanwhile  an  immense  German  army,  said  to  number  1,600,000 
men,  had  been  forcing  the  Russians  back  in  Galicia  to  the  San 
River  and  the  gates  of  Przemysl.  A  German  bombardment  of  this 
fortress  seemed  imminent  on  May  20. 

ITALY  ENTEES  THE  WAE. 

On  Sunclay,  May  23,  Italy  finally  plunged  into  the  great  conflict  with  a 
declaration  of  war  against  Austria.  The  formal  declaration,  presented  to  the 
Austro-Hungarian  foreign  minister,  Baron  von  Burian,  by  the  Duke  of  Avarna, 
Italian  ambassador  at  Vienna,  asserted  that  Italy  had  "grave  motives"  for 
annulling  her  treaty  of  alliance  with  Austria  and  "confident  in  her  good 
right,"  resumed  her  liberty  of  action.  The  declaration  of  war  continued  as 
follows: 

"The  government  of  the  King,  firmly  resolved  to  provide  by  all  means  at 
its  disposal  for  safeguarding  Italian  rights  and  interests,  cannot  fail  in  its 
duty  to  take,  against  every  existing  and  future  menace,  the  measures  which 
events  impose  upon  it  for  the  fulfillment  of  national  aspirations. 

"His  majesty,  the  King,  declares  that  he  considers  himself  from  tomor- 
row (May  24,  1915),  in  a  state  of  war  with  Austria-Hungary." 

Thus  the  ninety-sixth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Queen  Victoria,  of 
England,  found  eleven  of  the  countries  of  Europe  at  war,  their  rulers  includ- 
ing three  of  her  grandsons,  two  arrayed  in  a  bitter  struggle  against  the  third. 
The  Triple  Alliance  on  this  date  became  the  Quadruple  Alliance,  when  Italy 
joined  the  .-illies.  Austria  was  of  course  supported  by  Germany.  Italy  war 
expected  to  put  3,000,000  men  in  the  field. 


384  A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

WHY    ITALY    WANTED   WAR 

The  reasons  why  Italy  entered  the  great  conflict  were  succinctly 
stated  on  May  19  by  Signor  Enrico  Corradini,  nationalist  leader,  as 
follows : 

"1.  The  necessity  for  Italy  to  take  advantage  of  the  present 
revolution  in  European  affairs  to  settle  her  national  irredentist 
problem  at  the  expense  of  Austria.  Our  right  to  the  Trentino, 
Trieste  and  Istria,  now  held  by  Austria,  is  not  questioned  by  rea- 
sonable people  anywhere  in  Europe. 

"2.  The  necessity  for  Italy  to  arrive  at  a  secure  and  definite 
settlement  of  her  military  frontiers  on  the  north  and  east. 

"3.  The  necessity  for  Italy  to  create  for  herself  by  her  inter- 
vention a  new  moral  and  political  position  in  the  new  European 
order  of  the  future,  to  replace  that  which  she  had,  thanks  to  her 
alliance  with  the  central  empires,  a  position  which  was  liquid^-ted 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

"4.  The  necessity  for  Italy  to  contribute  to  repelling  the  dan- 
ger of  a  German  hegemony  which  would  flourish  at  the  expense  of 
the  various  individual  cultures  and  civilizations," 

INVASION    OP   AUSTRIA 

Italy  promptly  threw  an  army  across  the  Austrian  frontier  and 
began  active  operations  in  the  direction  of  Trent  and  Trieste.  The 
fortified  city  of  Luzerne  soon  fell  into  Italian  hands  and  continued 
successes  marked  the  progress  of  the  invaders  all  through  the  month 
of  June.  The  Austrian  strategy  at  first  appeared  to  provide  for  a 
series  of  withdrawals  after  skirmishing;  but  late  in  the  month  a 
more  determined  resistance  developed,  the  defenses  of  the  Austrian 
troops  being  skilfully  prepared.  The  loss  of  life  during  the  month 
was  comparatively  light  on  both  sides,  but  on  June  26  the  Italians — 
already  masters  of  Plava  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Isonzo  river,  and 
the  heights  dominating  that  town — were  massing  heavy  bodies  of 
troops  before  Gorizia  and  Tolmino  for  crucial  battles  at  those  two 
points,  both  of  which  blo<iked  the  way  to  the  coveted  Austrian  sea^ 
port  of  Trieste. 

STRUGGLE  FOR  THE  DARDANELLES 

All  through  the  month  of  June  the  Allies  continued  their  desper- 
ate stmggle  for  the  possession  of  the  Dardanelles,  the  gateway  to 
Constantinople.  Under  the  direction  of  German  officers  and  engi- 
neers, the  Turkish  troops  and  gunners  offered  determined  resist- 
ance and  the  British,  Colonial  and  French  troops  co-operating  witi 
the  allied  fleets,  gained  headway  but  slowly  and  at  tremendous 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER  385 

cost.  03ut  it  was  declared  that  the  Allies  were  bent  upon  forcing  a 
passage  through  the  straits  regardless  of  cost  and  that  every  effort 
would  be  made  to  complete  the  operation  during  the  summer.  Sev- 
eral German  submarines  appeared  in  the  Gulf  of  Saros  during  the 
month  and  effectively  interfered  with  the  activity  of  the  British 
and  French  fleets.  The  results  of  the  operations  on  the  Gallipoli 
peninsula  during  the  month  indicated  that  the  Dardanelles  would 
prove  a  veritable  slaughter  pen  before  the  Allies  succeeded  in  win- 
ning their  way  to  Stamboul. 

J^MBEEG    IS    EECAPTXJEED 

On  June  22  the  city  of  Lemberg,  capital  of  the  Austrian  province 
of  Galieia,  was  recaptured  from  the  Russians,  who  had  held  it  for 
nearly  ten  months,  by  combined  German- Austrian  forces,  under  Gen- 
eral Mackensen.  This  marked  the  culmination  of  a  successful  Teuton 
campaign  in  Galieia,  including  the  recapture  of  the  strong  fortress 
of  Przemysl,  as  well  as  Lemberg,  and  the  driving  of  the  Russian 
invaders  back  to  their  own  borders. 

The  eastern  battle  front  in  June  extended  for  680  miles  north 
and  south,  and  while  the  German  drive  through  Galieia  was  entirely 
successful,  the  Russians  gained  some  victories  in  the  north.  They 
were  sorely  handicapped  by  the  lack  of  supplies  and  ammunition  foi 
their  forces,  and  at  the  end  of  June  the  Russian  authorities  were 
organizing  every  possible  industry  for  the  production  of  ammuni- 
tion. 

The  fiercest  fighting  of  the  war,  as  far  as  the  Baltic  provinces 
of  Russia  are  concerned,  occurred  in  a  battle  for  the  mastery  of  the 
Dttbysa  River  early  in  June.  The  river  changed  hands  five  times  in 
one  day,  and  at  nightfall  the  stream  was  completely  choked  with  the 
bodies  of  thousands  of  dead,  so  that  a  plank  roadway  for  artillery 
was  laid  by  the  Russians  across  a  solid  bridge  of  bodies. 

HEROIC  FEAT  OF  A  CANADIAN 

A  thrilling  and  unprecedented  feat  was  performed  by  Lieut.  R.  A. 
J.  Warneford,  a  Canadian  aviator,  when  alone  in  an  aeroplane,  he 
destroyed  a  Zeppelin  airship  with  its  crew  of  twenty-eight  men  in 
Belgium.  He  received  the  Victoria  Cross  for  his  exploit,  but  a  few 
days  later  was  killed  while  testing  a  new  aeroplane  near  Paris.  He 
was  buried  with  naval  honors  in  London,  June  23. 

On  July  3,  1915,  when  the  twelfth  month  of  the  Great  War 
began,  it  was  conservatively  estimated  that  the  total  losses  on  all 
sides,  including  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  had  exceeded  six 
millions  of  men.  Over  500  vessels  had  been  destroyed,  including 
120  ships  of  war< 


386  A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

DEADLOCK  IN"  THE  WEST 

During  July  and  August  there  were  no  general  engagements  of 
importance  in  the  Western  theatre  of  war.  The  deadlock  continued. 
Tlie  troops  along  the  Western  battle  lines  were,  however,  subjected 
almost  daily  to  violent  artillery  bombardment. 

By  August  22  the  British  line  in  northern  France  and  Flanders 
had  been  lengthened  from  40  miles  to  over  100  miles,  with  over 
800,000  troops  on  the  firing  line.  German  submarines  were  very 
active  in  the  war  zone  during  the  month  of  August,  over  170  mer- 
chant steamships  of  more  than  500  tons  displacement  and  nearly 
2,000  noneombatant  lives  being  the  awful  toll  to  date  of  this  new 
method  of  warfare. 

The  British  transport  Royal  Edward  was  torpedoed  iand  sunk 
August  14  by  a  German  submarine  in  the  -^gean  Sea.  Nearly 
1,000  lives  were  lost.  The  transport  had  on  board  a  force  of  32 
officers  and  1,350  men,  in  addition  to  the  ship's  crew  of  220  officers 
and  men.  The  troops  consisted  mainly  of  reinforcements  for  the 
29th  Division  and  details  of  the  Royal  Army  Medical  Corps. 

FALL    OF    WAKSAW 

Warsaw,  the  capital  of  Poland,  was  taken  by  the  Germans  August 
5.  Bavarian  troops  under  the  command  of  Prince  Leopold  carried 
the  forts  of  the  outer  and  inner  lines  of  the  city's  defenses,  where 
the  rear  guards  of  the  Russian  troops  m'ade  a  tenacious  resistance. 

The  German  armies  under  Gen.  von  Scholz  and  Gen.  von  Gall- 
witz  advanced  in  the  direction  of  the  road  between  Lomza,  Ostrov 
and  Vyszkoy  and  fought  a  number  of  violent  engagements.  The 
brave  and  desperate  resistance  of  the  Russians  on  both  sides  of  the 
road  between  Ostrov  and  Rozan  was  without  success. 

Twenty-two  Russian  officers  and  4,840  soldiers  were  taken  prison- 
ers.    The  Germans  also  captured  seventeen  machine  guns. 

The  fall  of  Warsaw  marked  the  culmination  of  the  greatest  sus- 
tained offensive  movement  of  the  war.  Thrice  before  Teutonic 
armies  had  knocked  at  its  gates,  only  to  be  denied  by  the  strength 
of  its  defenses  and  the  resistance  of  the  forces  holding  it. 

Warsaw  lies  on  the  Vistula,  625  miles  southwest  of  Petrograd 
and  320  miles  east  of  Berlin.  It  is  an  important  industrial  center 
and  its  population  is  estimated  at  not  far  from  900,000. 

The  great  Russian  fortress  of  Kovno  was  captui-ed  by  the  Ger- 
mans August  17.  More  than  400  cannon  were  taken.  The  fortress 
was  stormed  in  spite  of  the  most  stubborn  Russian  resistance. 

The  capture  of  Kovno  was  the  most  important  German  victory 
in  the  East  after  the  taking  of  Warsaw. 

Kovno  fell  under  the  eye  of  General  von  Hindenburg.  The  cap- 
ture of  the  fortress  was  the  first  personal  triumph  of  the  *'old  man 
of  the  Mazurian  lakes"  since  the  great  Austro-German  campaign 


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Above — Easing  the  pain  of  the  woiinfled  in  an  evacuation  hospital  in  France. 
The  Red  Cross  nurses  in  the  photo  (two  girls  from  Aberdeen,  S.  D.,  are  giving  wounded 
Yank  a  newspaper  from  God's  country  and  some  chocolate,  and  he  evidently  appre- 
ciates their  work. 

Beloiv — The  first  batch  of  American  troops  to  return  -from  France  after  the  armi- 
stice. The  photo  shows  the  camouflage  of  S.  S.  Mauretania  as  she  arrived  in  New 
York  harbor,  bearing  5,000  men,  of  whooi  X.XOO  were  wounded.    (U.  S.  Official  Photoa.'> 


O  <U  OJ 

05  m 


^bore— Siirronder  of  the  German  high-seas  fleet.    A    British  warship,  which  towed 
an  observation   l)all()on.   leading  the  line   of  seventy   German  vessels   mto   the   X<  irth   ot 

Forth.      (Copyrifiht,  U.   if-   17. )  .  ^    ^,  ^      «    xr    „„,:,u     i^r,o-ian,i 

Be?ot«— Surrendering    the   German    submarmes    at   the   port   of   Harwich,    l^^nglana. 
Note  the  listless  attitude  of  this  particular  German  crew,    (Copyright,  I.  t.  t).) 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAV  GET  EE  387 

in  the  East  was  inaugurated.  The  six  great  forts  defending  the 
city  from  the  west  and  southwest  were  simply  blown  to  pieces  by 
the  incessant  pounding  of  Germany's  great  42-centimeter  guns  and 
a  host  of  minor  pieces. 

The  forts  were  under  direct  attack  for  scarcely  a  week,  demon- 
strating agaia  the  superiority  of  modern  artillery  over  fort  struc- 
tures built  by  man. 

Kovno,  capital  of  the  Russian  province  of  that  name,  is  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Niemen.  It  is  a  fortress  of  the  first  class.  The 
civilian  population  of  the  city  is  more  than  75,000. 

The  important  Russian  fortress  of  Novo  Georgievsk,  the  last  halt- 
ing place  of  the  Russians  in  Poland,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Ger- 
mans on  August  19,  after  a  most  stubborn  resistance.  The  garri- 
son consisted  of  85,000  men  and  of  these  over  20,000  were  taken 
prisoners.  Over  500  cannon  were  captured  and  a  large  amount  of 
war  ammunition  seized. 

BATTLE  OF  THE  BAY  OF  KIGA 

Russian  naval  forces  aided  by  British  submarines,  in  the  Gulf 
of  Riga  won  <a  decided  victory  August  18  over  the  German  fleet 
which  penetrated  the  gulf  on  August  13. 

The  great  German  battle  cruiser  Moltke,  one  of  the  finest  ships 
of  its  kind  afloat,  was  destroyed  in  the  engagement.  The  cruiser 
had  a  displacement  of  23,000  tons  and  carried  a  crew  of  1,107  men 
and  officers.  Its  main  battery  consisted  of  ten  11-inch  guns,  mounted 
in  pairs  in  five  turrets.  Its  secondary  batteiy  contained  twelve  6- 
inch  guns.  Twelve  24-pounders  and  four  torpedo  tubes  completed 
its  armament.  The  Moltke  was  610  feet  long  over  all,  with  a  beam  of 
96%  feet,  and  cost  $12,000,000. 

With  the  Moltke  three  German  cruisers  and  seven  torpedo  boats, 
all  unnamed,  were  destroyed. 

The  Russians  lost  the  destroyer  Novik  of  1,260  tons,  largest  in 
the  navy,  and  the  gunboiats  Sivutch  and  Koriets,  of  875  tons  dis- 
placement. 

The  Russian  victory  did  not  end  with  the  defeat  of  the  German 
naval  forces.  The  invading  fleet  was  accompanied  by  four  enormous 
transports,  all  crammed  with  troops.  These  soldiers  attempted  to 
make  a  landing  on  Pernau  bay,  on  the  northeastern  shoulder  of  the 
Gulf  of  Riga.  They  were  permitted  to  land  and  were  then  attacked 
and  exterminated  by  the  Russian  forces  at  that  point.  The  loss 
w;^.s  estimated  at  6,000  men. 

WHITE  STAR  LINER  ARABIC  SUNK 

The  White  Star  liner  Arabic,  which  sailed  August  18  from  Liver- 
pool for  New  York,  was  sent  to  the  bottom  by  a  German  torpedo 
August  19  off  Fastnet  on  the  south  coast  of  Ireland,  not  far  from  the- 
point  at  which  the  Lusitania  was  sunk  by  a  German  submarine. 


388  A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

Out  of  429  persons  aboard  including  crew,  39  lost  their  lives. 
Two  Americans  perished — Mrs.  Josephine  Bruguiere,  widow  of  Emil 
Brugui^re,  California  millionaire  banker,  and  Dr.  E.  P.  Wood,  of 
Janesvilie,  Wis. 

Capt.  Finch,  who  commanded  the  steamer,  gave  the  following 
graphic  account  of  the  disaster:  "We  were  forty-seven  miles  south 
of  Galley  Head  at  9  :30  in  the  morning  when  I  perceived  the  steamer 
Dunsley  in  difficulty.  Going  toward  her,  I  observed  a  torpedo  com- 
ing for  ray  ship,  but  could  not  discern  a  submarine.  The  torpedo 
struck  100  feet  from  the  stern,  making  terrible  havoc  of  the  hull. 
The  vessel  began  to  settle  immediately  and  sank  in  about  eight  min- 
utes. 

"My  order  from  the  bridge  about  getting  the  boats  launched 
was  promptly  obeyed.  Two  boats  capsized.  We  had  taken  every 
precaution  while  in  the  danger  zone.  There  were  plenty  of  life- 
belts on  deck  and  the  boats  were  ready  for  immediate  launching. 
The  officers  and  crew  behaved  excellently  and  did  everything  possi- 
ble in  the  circumstances,  getting  people  into  the  boats  and  picking 
up  those  in  the  sea. 

"I  was  the  last  to  leave,  taking  the  plunge  into  the  sea  as  the 
ship  was  going  down.  After  being  in  the  water  some  time  I  was 
taken  aboard  a  raft,  to  which  I  had  assisted  two  men  and  women. 

"If  the  submarine  had  given  me  a  little  more  time,  I  am  satis- 
fied I  could  have  saved  eveiybody." 

The  Arabic's  tonnage  was  15,201  gross.  It  was  600  feet  long,  65 
feet  beam  and  47  feet  in  depth.  It  was  built  at  Belfast  in  1903  by 
Harland  &  Wolff. 

On  September  4  the  German  forces  under  General  von  Beseler 
stormed  and  captured  the  bridgehead  at  Friedrichstradt,  the  most 
important  defense  of  Riga.  The  furiousness  of  the  attacks  in  this 
region  led  military  critics  to  believe  that  the  fall  of  the  city  of  Riga 
was  imminent. 

Everywhere  as  Russians  retreated  they  left  'a  trail  of  utter  devas- 
tation, causing  the  Teutons  to  march  around  burning  cities,  finding 
the  country  devoid  of  food  or  shelter.  This  destinictive  policy,  how- 
ever, resulted  in  saving  the  Czar's  army  and  rendering  futile  the 
hope  of  the  Kaiser  that  the  military  forces  of  Russia  could  be 
crushed. 

With  the  Russian  armies  in  full  retreat  and  their  double  line  of 
fortresses  lall  fallen  to  the  invader,  the  apparent  calm  on  the  Western 
front  continued  to  be  the  marvel  of  the  European  campaign,  as  up 
to  September  7  no  development  on  the  Western  front  indicated  that 
any  effort  was  being  made  to  distract  the  Kaiser's  attention  from  hi* 
victorious  expedition  into  the  territory  of  the  Czar. 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER  389 

THE  DAKDANELLES  CAMPAIGN. 

The  struggle  of  combined  land  and  sea  forces  of  the  Allies 
to  gain  control  of  the  Dardanelles,  and  thus  open  the  way  for 
the  British  and  French  fleets  to  Constantinople  and  the  Black 
Sea,  continued  through  the  autumn  of  1915  and  furnished 
some  of  the  most  sanguinary  battles  of  the  war.  From  the 
day  of  the  landing  of  British  troops  on  the  Gallipoli  penin- 
sula up  to  the  end  of  November  the  fighting  was  continuous 
and  bloody.  The  British  losses  were  tremendous,  while  the 
Turkish  defenders  of  the  supposedly  impregnable  straits  also 
suffered  heavily,  but  with  Mohammedan  stoicism. 

A  terrible  picture  of  the  slaughter  at  Seddul-Bahr,  where 
the  British  troops  landed  from  transports  under  the  guns  of 
their  fleet,  in  the  face  of  an  awful  Turkish  bombardment,  was 
painted  on  his  return  to  England  in  November  by  Lieutenant- 
Commander  Josiah  Wedgwood,  a  Liberal  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, who  had  received  special  mention  for  bravery  at  the 
front,  and  the  coveted  stripes  of  the  Distinguished  Service 
order. 

*'Our  school  books  told  us,"  said  Commander  Wedgwood, 
'  *  that  the  bloodiest  battle  in  historv  was  that  between  the  con- 
federates  and  federals  at  Sharpsburg  during  the  American 
civil  war,  when  one-third  of  all  the  men  engaged  were  left  on 
the  field.  But  Sharpsburg  was  a  joy  ride  compared  with 
Seddul-Bahr." 

Paying  a  tribute  to  the  enemy,  he  said:  ''The  Turks  are 
the  finest  fighters  in  the  world,  save  only  the  Canadians  and 
Australians.  And  they  proved  to  be  humane.  They  could 
easily  have  killed  all  those  who  went  to  succor  the  wounded, 
but  I  found  them  extraordinarily  merciful  as  compared  with 
the  enemy  in  Flanders. ' ' 

Commander  Wedg^vood  's  first  view  of  fighting  at  the  Dar- 
danelles was  at  the  so-called  V  beach,  where  a  steamship,  the 


39U  A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

** River  Clyde,"  was  run  aground  to  furnish  cover  for  the 
landing  of  the  British  troops. 

''This  modern  'wooden  horse  of  Troy,'  "  said  Commander 
Wedgwood,  "was  run  ashore  on  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning, 
400  yards  from  the  medieval  castle  of  Seddul-Bahr.  I  was  on 
the  vessel,  but  never  noticed  her  grounding  for  the  horrors 
ahead  of  us  in  the  shallow  waters  on  the  beach.  Five  tows  of 
five  boats  each,  loaded  with  men,  were  going  ashore  alongside 
of  us.  One  moment  it  had  been  early  morning  in  a  peaceful 
country,  with  rustic  sights  and  sounds  and  smells;  the  next 
moment,  while  the  boats  were  just  twenty  yards  from  shore, 
the  blue  sea  around  each  boat  was  turning  red.  It  was  truly 
horrible.  Of  all  those  brave  men  two-thirds  died,  and  hardly 
a  dozen  reached  unwounded  the  shelter  of  the  five-foot  sand 
dune. 

"About  9  o'clock  a  dash  across  the  row  of  fighters  from 
the  Wooden  Horse  was  led  by  Gen.  Napier  and  his  brigade 
major.  Would  they  ever  get  to  the  end  of  the  lighters  and 
jump  into  the  sheltering  water?  No;  side  by  side  they  were 
seen  to  sit  down.  For  one  moment  one  thought  they  might 
be  taking  cover ;  then  their  legs  slid  out  and  they  rolled  over. 

"It  was  the  Munsters  that  charged  first,  with  a  sprig  of 
shamrock  on  their  caps ;  then  the  Dublins,  the  Worcesters,  the 
Hampshires.  Lying  on  the  beach,  on  the  rocks,  on  the  lighters, 
they  cried  on  the  Mother  of  God.  There,  now,  was  Midship- 
man Drury  swimming  to  a  lighter  which  had  broken  loose, 
vdth  a  line  in  his  mouth  and  a  wound  in  his  head.  If  ever  a 
boy  deserved  his  Victoria  Cross,  that  lad  did.  And  there  was 
the  captain  of  the  River  Clyde,  now  no  longer  a  ship  to  be 
stuck  to  but  a  part  forever  of  Gallipoli,  alone  with  a  boat 
by  the  spit  of  rock,  trying  to  lift  in  the  wounded  under  fire. 

"All  these  things  I  saw  as  in  a  dream.  Columns  of  smoke 
rose  from  the  castle  and  town  of  Seddul-Bahr  as  the  great 
shells  from  the  fleet  passed  over  our  heads  and  burst,  and  in 
every  lull  we  heard  the  wounded. 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER  391 

''At  1  o'clock  the  Lancasliires  were  appearing  over  tlie 
ridge  to  the  left  from  'Lancashire  landing.'  We  saw  fifteen 
men  in  a  window  in  the  castle  on  the  right  by  the  water.  They 
signaled  that  they  were  all  that  remained  of  the  Dublins  who 
had  landed  at  the  Camber  at  Seddul-Bahr.  At  3  o'clock  we 
got  150  men  alive  to  shore.  We  watched  our  men  working  to 
the  right  and  up  into  the  castle  ruins — at  each  corner  the 
officer  crouching  in  front  with  revolver  in  rest. 

"When  night  came  a  house  in  Seddul-Bahr  was  burning 
brightly  and  there  was  a  full  moon.  We  disembarked  men  at 
once.  All  around  the  wounded  cried  for  help  and  shelter 
against  the  bullets,  but  there  was  no  room  on  jbioats  or  gang- 
way for  anything  but  the  men  to  come  to  shore. 

"For  two  nights  no  one  had  slept  and  then  another  day 
dawned.  We  were  firmly  ashore  at  Lancashire  landing,  and 
at  Du  Toit's  battery  to  the  northeast,  and  the  Australians 
were  dug  in  at  Anzac.  An  end  had  to  be  made  of  V  beach. 
The  whole  fleet  collected  and  all  morning  blew  the  ridge  and 
castle  and  town  to  pieces. 

"And  all  the  time  that  wonderful  infantry  went  forward 
up  the  hill  and  through  the  ruined  town.  The  troops  that 
went  in  that  attack  had  already  lost  half  their  strength;  the 
officers  that  led  up  those  narrow  streets  were  nearly  all  killed. 
Dead  beat,  at  1  o'clock,  before  the  final  rush,  they  hesitated. 
Then  our  last  colonel,  a  staff  man.  Col.  Doughty  Wylie,  ran 
ashore  with  a  cane,  ran  right  up  the  hill,  ran  through  the  last 
handful  of  men  sheltering  under  the  crest,  took  them  with  a 
rush  into  the  Turkish  trench,  and  fell  with  a  bullet  through 
his  head.    But  the  Turks  ran  and  the  ridge  was  ours. ' ' 

Many  weeks  of  bloody  fighting  followed  and  while  there 
was  talk  early  in  November  of  a  possible  abandonment  of  the 
Dardanelles  campaign,  the  end  of  the  month  found  the  strug- 
gle still  in  progress,  with  no  end  in  sight. 


392  A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

Official  figures  made  public  October  15,  show  that  tbe  Brit- 
ish casualties  at  the  Dardanelles  up  to  October  9  were  96,899, 
of  whom  1,185  were  officers.  The  casualties  among  the  Aus- 
tralian-troops on  the  Gallipoli  peninsula  up  to  the  same  date 
amounted  to  29,121  officers  and  men. 

THE  ATTITUDE  OF  GEEECE. 

On  September  23,  acting  upon  the  advice  of  Premier  Ven- 
izelos,  King  Constantine  of  Greece  ordered  a  general  mobili- 
zation of  the  Greek  army,  *'as  a  measure  of  elementary- 
prudence  in  view  of  the  mobilization  of  Bulgaria. ' '  Ten  days 
later  Premier  Venizelos  resigned  upon  official  notice  that  the 
King  could  not  support  his  war  poHcy,  which  was  believed  to 
reflect  the  sentiments  of  the  Greek  people  and  to  support  the 
Alhes.  King  Constantine  then  endeavored  to  form  a  coali- 
tion ministry.  The  great  point  at  issue  was  whether  Greece 
should  support  or  oppose  the  passage  of  the  Allies  through 
Greek  territory  to  the  aid  of  Serbia.  British  and  French 
troops  to  the  number  of  70,000  had  meanwhile  been  landed  at 
Saloniki,  the  great  Greek  seaport,  and  were  being  hurried  to 
the  support  of  the  Serbians  in  their  central  territory,  to 
oppose  the  incursion  of  the  Austro-Germans  and  the  Bul- 
garians. In  November  King  Constantine  and  his  military 
chiefs  were  visited  by  Field-Marshal  Earl  Kitchener,  the  Brit- 
ish Secretary  of  War,  who  made  such  demands  upon  them  in 
the  interest  of  the  Allies,  backed  by  a  temporary  blockade  of 
the  Greek  coasts  by  the  British  and  French  fleets,  that  on 
November  25  it  was  announced  that  cordial  relations  between 
Greece  and  the  entente  powers  had  been  estabhshed.  The 
Greek  government  gave  assurances  that  no  attempt  would  be 
made  to  interfere  with  the  Allies'  troops  should  they  under 
any  contingency  be  forced  to  cross  the  Greek  frontier,  but 
that  railway  and  other  facilities  would  be  afforded  them.  It 
was  understood  that  the  Allies  also  promised  Greece  a  mone- 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER  393 

tary  indemnity  after  the  war  for  any  damage  that  might  he 
done  through  the  occupation  of  Greek  territory. 

With  the  question  of  Grecian  intervention  out  of  the  way, 
the  Allies  then  occupied  themselves  with  the  attitude  of  Ru- 
mania and  the  intervention  of  Russia  in  behalf  of  Serbia,  in 
order  that  the  latter  country  might  be  saved  from  the  fate  of 
Belgium.  It  was  generally  understood  that  Rumania  could 
not  afford  to  incur  the  enmity  of  Germany  by  active  inter- 
ference in  behalf  of  Serbia,  even  though  the  Serbians  and 
Rumanians  were  natural  allies  against  Bulgaria. 

On  November  26,  M.  Pachitch,  the  Serbian  premier, 
received  a  personal  telegram  from  the  Russian  emperor,  in 
which  the  latter  promised  the  early  appearance  in  Bulgaria 
of  Russian  troops  and  the  Italian  government  also  promised 
the  Serbians  to  send  to  their  aid  an  expeditionary  force  of 
40,000  men.  It  was  believed  possible  that  the  Russian  forces 
might  seek  to  advance  through  Rumania,  instead  of  forcing 
a  landing  on  the  Black  Sea  coast  of  Bulgaria — in  which  case 
the  crossing  of  Rumanian  territory  by  Russian  troops  would 
bring  Rumania  into  a  serious  situation  both  economically  and 
politically,  and  render  it  difficult  if  not  impossible  for  her  to 
preserve  her  neutrality.  At  \his  time  Russia  had  concentrated 
a  great  army  near  the  Rumanian  frontier,  and  it  was  under- 
stood that  a  large  number  of  heavy  guns  had  arrived  at 
Odessa  for  its  use.  The  direction  in  which  this  Russian  army 
would  move  depended  entirely  upon  the  policy  adopted  by  the 
Rumanian  government. 

AMERICAN  LOAN  TO  THE  ALLIES. 

On  September  28,  formal  announcement  was  made  in  New 
York  of  the  terms  of  an  American  loan  to  Great  Britain  and 
France,  arranged  by  a  commission  of  British  and  French 
financial  authorities  after  conferences  with  American  bankers ; 
a  bond  issue  of  $500,000,000  was  soon  floated,  drawing  5  per 


394  A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

cent  interest  and  issued  to  the  syndicate  at  96 ;  the  money  to 
remain  in  the  United  States  and  to  be  used  only  in  payment 
for  commodities. 

Late  in  November  the  French  people  were  called  upon  to 
subscribe  to  a  ''loan  of  victory."  The  response  from  the 
people  of  Paris  alone  in  one  day  amounted  to  $5,000,000,000, 
thus  exceeding  the  records  of  all  former  popular  war  loans, 
including  British  and  German  issues,  and  typifying  the  patri- 
otic ardor  of  the  French  people  and  their  determination  to 
continue  the  war  to  an  issue  successful  to  allied  arms. 

THE   WESTERN   CAMPAIGN. 

After  a  week's  heavy  bombardment  of  the  German  lines, 
an  important  offensive  movement  was  undertaken  on  Sep- 
tember 25  by  the  French  and  British  against  the  German 
lines  on  the  western  front.  The  forv/ard  movement  occurred 
simultaneously  in  the  Champagne  district,  between  Rheims 
and  Verdun,  by  the  French  and  in  the  Artois  district,  between 
Ypres  and  Arras,  by  combined  British  and  French  forces. 
Wliile  the  Allies  did  not  succeed  in  gaining  much  ground,  and 
both  sides  suffered  heavy  losses,  it  was  claimed  by  the  French 
war  office  on  September  29  that  as  a  result  of  the  four  days* 
assaults  of  the  Anglo-French  forces  the  Germans  suffered 
losses  amounting  to  the  effective  strength  of  120,000  men, 
while  23,000  men  and  120  cannon  were  captured  from  the 
Teutonic  enemy.  This  constituted  the  result  of  what  was 
described  as  the  great  Anglo-French  drive  of  the  autumn,  and 
the  situation  on  the  western  front  then  settled  down  once 
more  into  a  state  of  siege.  The  first-line  trenches  of  the 
opposing  forces  along  a  wide-flung  front  were  within  a  short 
distance  of  each  other.  A  new  method  of  warfare  had  been 
developed  and  the  world  began  to  realize  that  all  historic 
conditions  of  war  had  been  revolutionized  by  the  use  of 
scientific  weapons  of  destruction  like  the  machine  gun,  which 
mowed  down  men  like  hay,  and  the  high  explosive  shell  that 
destroyed  protective  works  as  if  they  were  made  of  card- 


A  SUMMER  OF  SLAUGHTER  395 

board  and  filled  the  trenches  with  dead  and  dying  bodies. 
Such  was  the  situation  on  the  western  front  in  the  begin- 
ning of  December.  No  let-up  in  the  determination  of  either 
side;  no  advance  seemingly  possible,  no  attack  that  was  not 
followed  by  a  counter-attad^ ;  no  gain  of  any  consequence 
anywhere;  no  possibility  seemingly  of  any  decisive  battle; 
nothing  in  sight  but  an  absolute  deadlock. 

ON   THE   EASTERISr   FRONT. 

Late  in  September  the  Grerman  campaign  against  Russia 
appeared  to  lose  most  of  its  force.  Continued  attempts  were 
made  by  Field  Marshal  von  BQndenburg  to  fight  his  way  to 
Riga,  but  without  avail,  and  Russian  successes  at  various 
points  along  the  eastern  battle  front  were  numerous  in  Octo- 
ber and  November.  The  Russians  declared  on  November  15 
that  they  deemed  the  city  of  Riga  safe,  and  by  November  26 
it  was  apparent  that  the  G-ermans  were  engagea  m  a  general 
retirement  all  along  the  River  Dvina.  The  Allies  then  became 
interested  in  the  Kaiser's  probable  choice  of  a  line  of  defense 
for  the  winter  on  the  northern  section  of  his  Russian  front. 
The  breakdown  of  the  Grerman  offensive  was  attributed  by 
the  Allies  to  three  things — the  increase  in  the  Russian  ammu- 
nition supply,  a  German  shortage  of  munitions,  and  the  weak- 
ening of  the  German  line  for  the  Balkan  campaign. 

BULGARIA  ENTERS  THE  WAR. 

On  October  1,  1915,  it  was  evident  that  Bulgarian  forces 
would  shortly  be  employed  on  the  side  of  the  central  powers. 
Bulgarian  troops  from  Sofia  were  moving  on  to  the  Serbian 
frontier.  King  Ferdinand  had  ordered  the  mobilization  of! 
all  men  under  sixty-five  years  of  age  and  martial  law  was' 
proclaimed,  no  citizen  under  forty-five  being  allowed  to  leave 
the  country.  On  October  4  Russia  sent  an  ultimatum  to  Bul- 
garia and  the  Russian  minister  was  ordered  to  leave  Sofia  if 
by  4  p.  m.,  October  5,  Bulgaria  did  not  definitely  break  with 
Germany,  Austria  and  Turkey.    All  the  allied  powers  sup- 


396  A  SUM3IER  OF  SLAUGHTER 

ported  Russia  in  this  demand.  Bulgaria  did  not  reply  within 
the  time  specified  and  the  Russian  minister  was  reported  too 
ill  to  move  from  Sofia,  thus  indicating  that  the  diplomats  of 
the  great  contending  powers  were  still  at  work  in  an  effort 
to  secure  the  important  support  of  Bulgaria  in  the  Balkan 
campaign  which  was  imminent. 

On  October  6,  when  Bulgaria  was  said  to  have  sent  an 
ultimatum  to  Serbia  demanding  the  territory  ceded  after  the 
recent  Balkan  wars,  the  envoys  of  the  Allies  at  Sofia  requested 
their  passports,  and  Bulgaria  became  an  active  participant  in 
the  war.  The  Bulgarian  minister  at  Nish,  the  Serbian  capital, 
received  his  passports  on  October  8,  and  on  the  same  day 
the  Bulgarian  minister  at  Paris  was  handed  his  passports. 
On  the  following  day,  October  9,  Belgrade,  the  former  Serbian 
capital,  was  occupied  by  Austro-German  forces  and  the  inva- 
sion of  Serbia  by  Austria  and  Germany  from  the  north  and 
by  Bulgaria  from  the  east  began  in  earnest.  The  Serbian 
capital  was  removed  the  same  day  to  Ishtib,  in  the  south. 

THE   SERBIAN    CAMPAIGN. 

When  the  great  army  of  Germans  and  Austrians  entered 
Serbia  at  Belgrade  and  other  points  along  the  Danube  and 
began  to  drive  the  Serbian  forces  to  the  south,  they 
met  ^vith  immediate  and  continued  successes.  Bulgarian 
troops  meanwhile  pressed  the  Serbians  on  the  west  and 
bv  the  end  of  November  it  seemed  as  if  the  entire  terri- 
tory  of  Serbia  was  doomed  to  the  fate  of  Belgium.  But 
on  the  south,  allied  troops,  including  a  great  body  of 
French  who  had  been  landed  at  Saloniki  in  Greece  and  made 
their  way  northward,  disputed  the  advance  of  the  invaders 
and  at  several  points  drove  back  the  Bulgarians,  thus  holding 
the  southern  territory  of  Serbia  for  their  ally  in  the  same 
manner  that  Fianders  was  beins*  h^ld  by  the  Allies  for  Bel- 
gium. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
SECOND  WINTEE  OF  WAR 

In  all  the  arenas  of  the  great  struggle,  the  winter  campaign  of 
1915-16,  the  second  winter  of  the  Avar,  was  accompanied  by  unpar- 
alleled hardships  and  sufferings.  It  was,  in  fact,  described  by  Major 
Moraht,  military  expert  of  the  Berliner  Tageblatt  and  the  beat 
known  G  erman  military  critic,  as  *  *  the  most  terrific  campaign  in  the 
world's  history."  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  of  all  classes,  in 
all  the  armies  stretched  along  the  battle  fronts  east  and  west,  strug- 
gled against  wind,  weather,  and  winter  amid  conditions  of  the  most 
extreme  self-denial.  Speaking  for  the  Teutonic  forces  in  January, 
Major  Moraht  said:  "On  our  western  and  eastern  fronts  and  along 
th«  lines  held  by  our  Austro-Hungarian  allies,  the  conditions  under 
which  we  must  stubbornly  held  out  arc  such  as  never  in  the  history 
of  the  world's  most  terrible  campaign  had  to  be  endured  before." 
Th«  winter  was  exceptionally  severe  and  men  were  invalided  by  the 
thousands,  owing  to  frost-bites,  despite  ingenious  precautions  and 
the  fact  that  their  spells  in  the  trenches  were  reduced  considerably. 

The  conditions  faced  by  the  Austrians  and  Italians  in  the  Alps 
and  on  the  Isonzo  were  especially  appalling.  Thus  a  detachment 
of  Austrian  and  Alpine  tr«ops,  engaged  in  patrol  duty,  met  its  doom 
in  an  avalanche  in  southern  Tyrol.  Only  one  out  of  twelve  was  res- 
cued alive,  and  he  lay  buried  under  snow  for  fourteen  hours  before 
he  was  rescued. 

Added  to  the  sufferings  of  the  fighting  men  during  the  winter  the 
8um  total  of  human  misery  in  Europe  when  1916  dawned  was  vastly 
increased  by  the  awful  conditions  prevailing  in  Poland  and  in  Ser- 
bia. Poland,  a  land  long  recognized  as  given  over  to  sorrows,  had 
been  crossed  and  recrossed  by  hostile  armies.  It  had  been  harried, 
almost  destroyed.  Towns  and  food  supplies,  fields  and  granaries, 
were  obliterated.  The  cattle  had  been  driven  off  by  the  invaders 
and  the  people  were  left  starving.  The  misery  of  Belgium  a  year 
before  was  as  nothing  compared  with  the  misery  of  Poland  amid  the) 
rigors  of  winter,  and  the  unhappy  country  clamored  for  the  help  of 
happier  peoples.  It  had  become  a  land  of  graves  and  trenches,  of 
ruin  and  destruction  on  a  scale  that  had  been  wrought  nowhere  else 
by  the  war.  Many  of  the  abandoned  trenches  were  the  temporary 
"homes"  of  countless  refugees,  mostly  women  and  children,  who  had 
been  driven  frem  their  homes  in  the  burned  and  ruined  villages  that 
dotted  the  land.    And  there  was  little  or  no  relief  in  sight  for  the 

397 


398  SECOND  WINTER  OF  WAR 

stricken  Poles,  innocent  victims  of  a  ruthless  war  and  pitiful  play- 
things of  Fate. 

ON  THE  WESTERN  FRONT 

Artillery  fighting  with  mortars  and  long-range  cannon  was  a 
continuous  performance  during  December  and  January  in  nearly 
every  section  of  the  western  battle  line.  Every  day  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  shells,  both  high  explosive  and  shrapnel,  were  hurled  at 
the  trenches  and  men  were  killed  or  wounded  by  the  score  at  a  time. 
To  the  war-hardened  men  behind  the  guns  on  both  sides  this  busi- 
ness of  slaying  and  running  the  risk  of  being  slain  or  crippled  be- 
came so  prolonged  and  monotonous  that  they  thought  no  more  of  it 
than  of  cutting  down  a  forest  or  building  a  pontoon  bridge. 

Early  in  January  the  city  of  Nancy,  just  behind  the  French 
lines,  was  bombarded  for  three  days  by  German  15-inch  guns.  Much 
damage  was  done  and  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  were  killed  and 
wounded.  As  a  consequence  there  was  an  exodus  from  the  city, 
safe  conducts  being  issued  to  more  than  30,000  persons. 

Estimates  made  in  Vienna  of  the  total  booty  of  the  Teutonic 
allies  during  the  first  seventeen  months  of  the  war,  up  to  January 
1,  1916,  were  as  follows:  Nearly  3,000,000  prisoners,  10,000  guns, 
and  40,000  machine  guns,  while  470,000  square  kilometers  ©f  enemy 
territory  had  been  occupied. 

About  the  same  time  the  German  losses,  as  compiled  from  official 
lists,  were  estimated  at  2,588,000,  including  over  500,000  killed  and 
350,000  taken  by  the  Allies  as  prisoners  of  war. 

CONSCRIPTION  IN  ENGLAND 

After  every  effort  had  been  exhausted  in  the  British  Isles  to 
raise  troops  by  voluntary  enlistment,  first  under  Lord  Kitchener 
and  then  under  Lord  Derby,  the  British  government  was  finally 
compelled  to  resort  to  conscription,  although  nearly  3,000,000 
men  had  voluntarily  responded  to  the  call  to  the  colors.  A  bill  was 
presented  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Premier  Asquith  on  January 
5,  1916,  providing  for  compulsory  service  by  "all  men  between  the 
ages  of  18  and  41  who  are  bachelors  or  widowers  without  children 
dependent  on  them."  Ireland  was  excluded  from  the  terms  of  the 
measure,  which  finally  passed  the  Commons  on  January  20,  the  op- 
position having  dwindled  to  a  meager  handful  of  votes.  Four  mem- 
bers of  the  Cabinet,  however,  resigned  as  a  protest  against  conscrip- 
tion. 

BRITISH  BATTLESHIPS  SUNK 

On  January  9  the  British  battleship  King  Edward  VII  foundered 
at  sea  as  the  result  of  striking  a  mine.  Owing  to  a  heavy  sea  it  had 
to  be  abandoned  and  sank  shortly  afterward.     The  entire  crew  of 


SECOND  WINTER  OF  WAB  399 

nearly  800  men  were  saved.  The  vessel  was  a  predreadnaught  of 
16,350  tons  and  cost  nearly  $8,000,000.  A  week  previously  the  Brit- 
ish battleship  Natal,  a  vessel  of  similar  character,  was  sunk  by  an 
internal  explosion. 

The  main  battle  fleets  of  both  Britain  and  Germany  remained  "in 
statuo  quo"  up  to  March  1,  1916.  British  cruisers  and  patrol  ships 
maintained  a  constant  watch  upon  the  waters  of  the  North  Sea,  and 
visitors  permitted  to  see  the  battle  fleet  at  its  secret  rendezvous  re- 
ported efficiency  and  eternal  vigilance  as  its  watchwords.  The  Ger- 
man fleet  lay  in  safety  in  the  Kiel  Canal,  still  awaiting  orders  to  put 
to  sea  and  enjoy  "der  Tag,"  after  nineteen  months  of  inactivity. 

RUSSIANS  WINTER  CAMPAIGN 

After  several  months  of  comparative  inactivity  Russia  launched 
a  forward  movement  against  the  Austro-German  forces  late  in  De- 
cember. This  winter  drive  was  not  unexpected,  as  the  Russian 
armies  had  had  time  to  recover  from  their  reverses  of  the  summer 
and  autumn  of  1915  and  had  received  much-needed  supplies  of  guns 
and  ammunition. 

The  fact  that  Russia  was  vigorously  on  the  offensive  again  was 
soon  demonstrated.  The  first  week  of  1916  was  marked  by  a  pro- 
gressive development  of  a  forward  Russian  movement  extending 
along  the  Stye  and  Strypa  rivers  from  the  Pripet  marshes  to  Bes- 
sarabia. The  main  attack  seemed  to  be  directed  against  Bukowina 
and  Eastern  Galicia,  and  for  some  time  the  pressure  of  the  Russian 
attacks  forced  back  the  lines  of  the  Austro-German  right  along  the 
eastern  front. 

During  January  the  Russians  were  also  actively  engaged  against 
the  Turks  in  the  Caucasus,  where  the  battle  front  was  over  100  miles 
long,  and  against  the  Turks,  aided  by  Germans  in  Persia.  They  be- 
gan a  general  offensive  in  the  Caucasus  on  January  11  and  made 
steady  gains  over  the  Turks,  while  similar  successes  attended  their 
efforts  in  Persia,  where  revolutionists  had  entered  the  field  against 
the  Russians  and  British. 

THE  BALKAN  CAMPAIGN 

The  month  of  December  saw  the  end  of  the  Austro-German  and 
Bulgarian  drives  through  Serbia.  By  the  end  of  the  year  the  rem- 
nants of  the  Serbian  army  had  been  driven  across  the  frontiers  and 
some  50,000  of  them  found  refuge  in  January  on  the  Greek  island  of 
Corfu,  which  was  seized  by  the  Allies  for  that  purpose.  King  Peter 
found  an  asylum  in  Italy;  Belgrade  and  Nish  were  occupied  by 
Austrians  and  Germans,  and  the  Bulgarians  halted  at  the  Greek 
border.  The  small  British  and  French  forces  in  Serbia,  greatly  out- 
numbered, retired  before  the  enemy's  advance  from  north  and  east. 


400  SECOND  WINTER  OF  WAR 

but  saved  the  Serbian  army  from  total  annihilation  by  protecting  its 
retreat  to  the  southern  frontier.  Then  the  British  and  French  re- 
treated across  the  Greek  border  to  Saloniki,  where  they  were  largely 
reinforced  and  proceeded  to  fortify  themselves  against  possible  Ger- 
man or  Bulgarian  attacks.  King  Constantine  of  Greece,  brother-in- 
law  of  the  Kaiser,  feebly  protested  against  the  proceedings  of  the 
Allies  ©n  Greek  soil,  saying  that  he  wished  his  country  to  remain 
neutral — but  his  protest  was  offset  by  the  facts  that  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  people  of  Greece  were  favorable  to  the  Allies  and  that 
their  landing  at  Saloniki  was  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  Serbia, 
Greece's  friend  and  ally,  which  Greece  had  notably  failed  to  do. 
Frequent  threats  of  the  bombardment  of  Saloniki  by  the  Germans 
or  by  the  Bulgars  were  made  during  January,  but  up  to  February  10 
the  threatened  attack  had  failed  to  materialize  and  the  Allies  were 
strongly  intrenched  in  a  30-mile  arc  around  the  town,  while  the 
guns  of  a  powerful  fleet  of  British  and  French  warships  commanded 
the  approaches  and  protected  transports  and  landings. 

SINKING  OF  THE  PERSIA 

On  December  30  the  Peninsular  &  Oriental  liner  Persia  was  tor- 
pedoed by  a  submarine,  probably  Austrian,  in  the  Mediterranean 
about  300  miles  northwest  of  Alexandria,  and  sank  in  five  minutes. 
One  hundred  and  fifty-five  out  of  the  400  passengers  and  crew  were 
landed  at  Alexandria  on  January  1,  and  eleven  tthers  were  subse- 
quently reported  safe.  Among  those  lost  was  Robert  N.  McNeely, 
who  was  on  his  way  to  take  up  his  duties  as  American  consul  at 
Aden. 

PROM  BERLIN  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE 

By  the  middle  of  January  German  engineerg  had  succeeded  in 
repairing  the  railroad  bridges  and  roadbed  destroyed  during  the 
Serbian  campaign  and  thus  reopened  direct  communication  between 
Berlin  and  Constantinople. 

CANADLA.N  PARLIAMENT  BUILDING  BURNED 

On  the  night  of  February  3  the  beautiful  Gothic  structure  which 
housed  the  Canadian  Parliament  at  Ottawa — the  architectural  pride 
of  the  Dominion — was  wrecked  by  a  fire  which  started  in  a  reading 
room  adjacent  to  the  chamber  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Six  per- 
sons, two  of  them  women  friends  of  the  Speaker's  family,  lost  their 
lives.  The  House  was  in  session  when  the  fire  broke  out,  and  many 
members  and  other  occupants  of  the  building  escaped  narrowly  and 
with  great  difficulty.  The  money  loss  from  the  fire  was  enormous, 
and  priceless  paintings,  books  and  national  documents  were  destroyed. 

Opinions  diffiered  as  to  the  causes  of  the  fire,  but  the  occurrence 
about  the  same  time  of  several  highly  suspicious  fires  in  Canadian 
munition   factories   and   the   unexplained   rapidity   with   which   th«* 


-    :  SECOND  WINTER  OF  WAR  401 

Parliament  Building  fire  spread  with  mysterious  volumes  of  suffocat- 
ing smoke,  caused  widespread  suspicion  that  the  disaster  was  of 
incendiary  and  enemy  origin.  A  tidal  wave  ©f  resentment  flooded 
the  Dominion  and  deep  feeling  was  aroused  against  men  of  German 
birth  or  extraction  remaining  in  Canada,  some  of  them  occupying 
public  positions  of  responsibility.  A  Commission  was  appointed  by 
the  Government  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the  fire,  and,  pending  its 
report,  official  denials  were  made  that  German  spies  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  burning  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  These  denials, 
however,  failed  to  convince  the  Canadian  people  that  German  sym- 
pathizers were  entirely  innocent  of  any  participation  in  the  origin 
of  the  conflagration. 

The  mined  building  was  the  central  structure  of  the  magnificent 
group  of  Government  buildings  at  Ottawa,  and  one  of  the  finest 
examples  of  Gothic  architecture  on  the  Continent.  The  Library  of 
Parliament,  occupying  a  separate  structure  in  the  rear  of  the  building 
wrecked,  was  fortunately  spared  by  the  fire.  It  was  announced  by  the 
Premier,  Sir  Robert  Borden,  that  steps  would  be  taken  to  replace 
the  Parliament  Building  with  a  still  finer  structure,  and  the  Houses 
of  Parliament  continued  their  sessions  in  temporary  quarters.  One 
immediate  result  of  the  fire  and  of  the  suspicions  attached  to  its 
origin  was  to  stimulate  recruiting  in  the  Dominion  and  stiffen  the 
resolve  of  the  Canadian  people  to  do  their  utmost  to  aid  the  success 
of  British  arms  at  the  European  front.  Canada  became  more  than 
ever  an  armed  camp  of  determined  patriots.  The  general  sentiment 
was  expressed  by  the  Toronto  Globe,  which  said:  "If  German  agents 
see  a  way  to  injure  Canada,  they  will  stop  at  nothing  to  compass  their 
ends.  Arson  to  them  is  a  commonplace  and  murder  an  incident  in  the 
day's  work.  The  destruction  of  the  Parliament  Building  may  have 
been  the  result  of  an  accident,  but  the  general  belief  at  Ottawa  is 
that  it  was  the  work  of  an  incendiary." 

RUSSLS.N  SUCCESSES  IN  ASIA  MINOR 

On  February  15,  following  a  five  days'  siege,  Erzerum,  the  great 
Armenian  fortress,  where  the  main  Turkish  army  of  the  Caucasus 
had  taken  refuge,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Russians.  The  Turkish 
army  numbered  160,000  men  and  was  under  the  chief  command  of 
the  German  general,  Field  Marshal  von  der  Goltz,  formerly  military 
governor  of  Belgium.  The  main  body  of  the  Turks  managed  to  avoid 
capture  at  Erzerum,  but  the  Russians  took  15,000  prisoners  there, 
besides  hundreds  of  guns  and  immense  quantities  of  munitions  and 
supplies.  Then  began  a  determined  and  deadly  pursuit  of  the 
Turkish  army,  with  the  object  of  driving  it  out  of  Armenia,  and  the 
efforts  of  the  Russians  met  with  continued  successes.  Turkish  opposi- 
tion in  Asia  Minor  was  swiftly  broken  down,  and  steps  were  taken  by 
the   Russians   to   relieve   the    British   force   which   had    been   long 


402        SECOND  WINTER  OF  WAR 

beleagured  by  the  Turks  at  Kut-el-Amara,  in  Mesopatamia,  150  miles 
from  Brzerum. 

On  February  27-28  the  Turks  hastily  evacuated  the  important 
Black  Sea  port  of  Trebizond  and  neighboring  cities  before  the  vic- 
torious Russian  advance.  On  March  1  two  Russian  armies  were 
moving  rapidly  on  Trebizond,  one  along  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea 
through  Rizeh,  and  the  otlier  in  a  northwesterly  direction  from 
Erzerum,  The  capture  of  Erzerum  was  effected  in  bitter  wintry 
weather.  During  the  assault  on  the  fortress  several  Turkish  regi- 
ments were  annihilated  or  taken  prisoners  with  all  their  officers. 
Many  Turks  perished  from  the  cold. 

GREAT  BATTLE  BEFORE  VERDUN 

One  of  the  greatest  and  most  sanguinary  battles  of  the  war  began 
before  Verdun  on  February  20,  when  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Germany,  in  the  presence  of  the  Kaiser,  started  a  determined  and 
desperate  drive  against  the  great  French  fortress.  Ever  since  the 
battle  of  the  Mame  halted  the  German  advance  on  Paris  early  in 
September,  1914,  the  forces  of  the  Crown  Prince  had  been  striving 
unsuccessfully  to  break  through  the  French  lines  north  and  east  of 
Verdun,  but  the  fortress  had  well  maintained  its  reputation  for 
impregnability  and  continued  to  bar  the  high  road  to  Paris. 

For  ten  days  the  battle  raged  on  the  plains,  in  the  forests  and  on 
the  hills  before  Verdun,  and  the  loss  of  life  was  appalling  on  both 
sides.  By  February  26,  after  six  days  of  continuous  fighting,  the 
Germans  had  penetrated  the  French  lines  along  several  miles  of 
front,  had  occupied  several  villages  a  few  miles  north  of  Verdun, 
driven  the  French  from  the  peninsula  of  the  Meuse  formed  by  a 
bend  of  the  river  about  six  miles  from  the  city,  and  carried  by  storm 
the  outlying  fort  of  Douaumont,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
Verdun  fortifications.  But  their  advance  was  then  halted  by  the 
French  in  a  series  of  the  most  brilliant  counter-attacks,  and  the 
German  offensive  appeared  to  die  down  by  March  1,  when  their  losses 
in  the  ten  days'  battle  were  estimated  at  175,000,  including  between 
40,000  and  50,000  killed.  The  French  bosses  were  heavy,  but  the 
nature  of  the  German  attacks,  in  which  huge  masses  of  men  were 
hurled  against  the  French  entrenchments,  exposed  the  Teuton  forces 
to  the  most  withering  and  destructive  fire  from  the  French  75-centi- 
meters  and  machine  guns.  The  battle  exceeded  in  violence  and  losses 
even  the  great  battle  of  the  Yser  earlier  in  the  war.  Heavy  reinforce- 
ments had  been  brought  to  the  Verdun  front  by  the  Germans,  and  it 
was  estimated  that  their  forces  engaged  in  the  attack  numbered  at 
least  500,000  men,  supported  by  numerous  15-inch  and  17-inch  Aus- 
trian mortars,  with  all  the  heavy  German  artillery  used  in  the 
Serbian  campaign  and  part  of  that  formerly  employed  on  the  Russian 
front. 

Wliile  the  battle  of  Verdun  was  in  progress,  the  Germans  also  made 
detennined  attacks  in  the  Champagne  region,  gaining  some  ground ; 


SECOND  WINTER  OF  WAB  403 

but  on  March  1  the  Allied  lines  were  holding  fast  all  along  the  west- 
ern front. 

Wounded  soldiers  returning  from  the  front  during  the  bloody 
struggle  before  Verdun  told  tragic  tales  of  the  fighting,  "I  watched 
the  assault  of  the  Germans  upon  the  village  of  Milancourt,  near  the 
Meuse,"  said  a  wounded  Frenchman.  ''They  came  in  solid  ranks, 
without  a  word,  loading  and  reloading  their  rifles  mthout  cessation. 
Our  seventy-fives  fell  among  them,  and  then  the  mitrailleuses  entered 
into  action.  It  was  no  longer  a  battalion.  It  was  a  few  scattered 
groups  of  men  that  one  saw,  torn  by  a  rain  of  shells  and  bullets, 
squeezing  close  against  each  other  as  though  for  mutual  protection. 

"On  the  border  of  Montfaucon  I  saw  one  of  these  groups  dis- 
appear at  one  blow,  as  if  they  had  been  swallowed  into  a  marsh.  Our 
shells!  "What  frightful  work  they  did.  Never  wiU  I  forget  those 
fragments  of  human  beings  that  fell  just  at  my  feet.  Never  can  I 
forget  that  terrible  picture. 

"I  followed  the  attack  on  Haumont  and  Samogneux.  The  field  of 
battle  was  lighted  as  if  in  full  day  by  star  shells.  Black  masses  of 
Germans  advanced,  protected  by  their  artillery,  while  ours  remained 
silent.  Finally  our  artillery  began,  and  then  the  enemy  ranks 
wavered,  halted  and  disappeared. 

"Our  guns  had  waited  until  the  Germans  were  in  a  little  hollow 
all  arranged  for  the  massacre.  In  a  little  while  there  lay  the  bodies 
of  some  2,000  or  3,000  Germans.  They  occupied  some  villages,  but 
their  attack  on  Verdun  has  failed  after  terrible  losses." 

GERMAN    SUBMARINE    ACTIVITIES 

The  sinking  of  British  and  French  ships,  and  sometimes  neutral 
vessels,  by  German  and  Austrian  submarines  continued  during  the 
month  of  February.  On  February  27  the  Peninsular  &  Oriental  Line 
steamship  Maloja,  of  12,431  tons,  was  sunk  by  a  torpedo  or  mine  only 
two  miles  off  the  Admiralty  pier  at  Dover,  with  a  loss  of  155  lives, 
including  many  passengers,  men,  women  and  children,  en  route  to 
India.  Dozens  of  craft  went  at  once  to  the  rescue,  and  one  of  them, 
the  Empress  of  Fort  William,  a  vessel  of  2,181  tons,  was  also  torpedoed 
or  struck  a  mine  and  sank  nearby.  Of  the  IMaloja's  passengers  and 
crew,  260  were  rescued. 

On  February  28  the  great  French  liner  La  Provence  was  sunk  in 
the  Mediterranean  with  a  loss  estimated  at  900  lives.  It  had  a  dis- 
placement of  19,200  tons,  length  602  feet,  beam  65  feet,  and  had 
been  in  the  service  of  the  French  Government  as  a  troop  transport. 

Under  new  orders  to  their  submarine  commanders,  in  spite  of 
protests  by  the  United  States  Government,  Germany  and  Austria 
inaugurated  on  March  1  the  policy  of  sinking  without  warning  all 
Allied  merchant  vessels  believed  to  carry  any  armament  for  defensive 
purposes,  and  the  world  waited  with  bated  breath  for  fresh  develop- 
ments of  the  Teutonic  campaign  of  frightfulness. 


CHAPTER  XXVr 

CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR. 

Prolonged  Battle  of  Verdun  the  Most  Terrible  in  History — 
Enormous  Losses  on  Both  Sides — Submarine  ActiV' 
ity  Imperils  Relations  of  America  and  Germany, 

Beginning  with  the  first  infantry  attack  by  the  Germans  on  Mon- 
day, February  21,  after  twenty-four  hours  of  continuous  bombard- 
ment, the  battles  incident  to  the  siege  of  Verdun  were  fought  at 
brief  intervals  during  the  next  two  months,  down  to  the  middle  of 
April,  and  marked  the  climax  of  the  War.  The  losses  on  both  sides 
were  enormous  and  extraordinary,  and  taken  as  a  whole  the  strug- 
gle on  the  semicircular  front  north  and  east  of  the  great  French 
stronghold  fully  justified  its  description  as  "the  most  terrible  battle 
in  the  world's  history." 

When  spring  of  1916,  arrived,  the  struggle  seemed  to  be  a  pretty 
even  draw,  but  the  end  was  not  in  sight.  Both  sides  showed  the 
greatest  confidence  in  the  outcome.  In  France  the  confidence  of  the 
nation  found  expression  in  the  voice  of  M.  Alexandre  Ribot,  the 
veteran  minister  of  finance,  who,  having  Verdun  before  his  eyes, 
told  the  Chamber  of  Deputies:  "We  have  reached  the  decisive 
hour.  We  can  say  without  exaggeration,  without  illusion,  and 
without  vain  optimism,  that  we  now  see  the  end  of  this  horrible 
war. ' ' 

But  while  the  French  were  certain  that  victory  would  ultimately 
be  theirs,  the  German  papers  and  people  were  just  as  fully  per- 
suaded that  this  finest  of  the  fortresses  of  France  would  finally  fall 
before  the  determined  assaults  of  the  Kaiser's  army,  which  no  fort 
had,  as  yet,  stopped. 

Both  sides  recognized  that  this  was  the  supreme  moment  of  the 
War  The  Germans  had  gained  by  April  15  from  three  to  five  miles 
along  a  front  of  about  15  miles,  but  had  taken  only  two  of  the  ring 

404 


CLIMAX  OF  THE  WaB  405 

of  minor  forts  around  Verdun.  The  Frencii  claimed  that  the  con. 
figuration  of  the  ground  occupied  by  the  contending  forces  at  that 
time  made  their  line  impregnable.  Although  Verdun  was  said  by 
the  German  military  experts  to  be  only  an  mcident  in  the  German 
offensive  which  was  planned  to  secure  the  final  "'decision,'*  they 
realized  the  importance  of  Verdun  to  their  whole  line  on  the  West- 
ern front,  and  knew  its  value  too  well  not  to  make  the  most  desper- 
ate and  exhaustive  efforts  for  its  conquest. 

A  TERRIFIC   ARTILLERY  DUEL. 

For  many  weeks  the  battle  for  Verdun  was  signalized  by  the 
most  terrific  artillery  fire  in  history.  No  words  can  tell  of  the 
ear-stunnmg  roar  of  the  guns,  or  depict  the  horror  of  the  tons  of 
steel  daily  crashing  and  splintering  amid  massed  bodies  of  men> 
while  the  softly-failing  snows  of  late  winter  covered,  but  could  not 
conceal,  the  ensanguined  landscape.  Modern  warfare  was  seen  at 
Verdun  in  all  its  panoply  of  terror.  Amid  fire  and  fury,  the  rich 
and  fertile  countryside  was  transformed  into  a  vast  scene  of  ruin 
and  desolation,  while  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  abounded  on  both 
sides,  men  were  maddened  by  the  frenzy  of  the  fight  and  the  ghastly 
horrors  of  night  and  day,  and  Death  stalked  gloatingly  and  glutted, 
but  never  surfeited,  over  the  bloody  field. 

The  German  attacks  followed  one  another  so  fast  and  so  furi- 
ously that  the  weeks  of  fighting  became  one  prolonged  battle,  and 
a  description  of  one  attack  will  almost  serve  for  all.  Thus,  a 
wounded  French  officer  said  of  the  seven  days  of  continuous  fight- 
ing which  opened  the  German  offensive  against  Verdun:  **The 
first  symptom  of  the  battle  favorable  to  the  French  was  the  inability 
of  the  Germans  to  silence  the  French  artillery.  The  attack  opened 
with  strong  reconnoitering  parties  advancing,  wherein  was  noted 
an  unusually  large  proportion  of  officers.  For  the  first  time  the 
German  officers  were  seen  to  be  leading  their  men  into  battle,  instead 
of  driving  them,  as  had  been  the  rule — and  this  was  said  to  be  at  the 
behest  of  the  watching  Kaiser.  Then  came  the  infantry  in  great 
numbers.  During  the  next  two  days  the  fighting  waxed  fiercer  and 
fiercer. 

"At  first  fourteen  German  divisions  were  engaged,  then  sixteen, 


406  CLIMAX  OF  TEE  WAR 

and  finally  seventeen  divisions  (340,000  men).  The  French  com- 
mand  at  this  point  carried  out  a  maneuver  which  will  be  recorded 
as  a  masterpiece  in  military  history. 

"If  the  Germans  had  been  only  fifteen  yards  away,  the  French 
could  have  been  submerged  by  the  attack,  providing  the  attacking 
forces  were  prepared  to  make  any  sacrifice,  but  the  distance  being 
1,500  yards  there  was  little  chance  for  the  Germans  against  the  op- 
posing artillery.  The  French  troops  were  accordingly  swung  back 
to  positions  from  which  they  could  see  the  Germans  approaching 
over  exposed  ground.  The  effect  was  that  the  immediate  front  of 
the  attack,  which  was  originally  twenty-five  miles  in  extent,  was 
reduced  to  nine  miles,  but  even  this  soon  proved  too  wide.  The  Ger- 
man losses  were  so  great  that  the  attack  could  not  be  kept  up  at  all 
points ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  day  the  offensive  dwindled  to 
fragmentary  attacks, — but  only  to  be  renewed  with  added  vigor 
after  a  brief  period  of  rest  for  the  infantry  on  both  sides,  while  the 
artillery  kept  up  its  daily  and  nightly  duel  without  ceasing,  until 
the  entire  terrain  became  an  earthly  inferno,  thickly  scattered  over 
with  the  dead  and  the  dying." 

THE  DEADLY  MINE  IN  CAURES  WOOD. 

Frightful  in  result,  too,  was  the  tragic  stratagem  played  on  the 
Germans  in  Caures  Wood,  near  the  village  of  Beaumont.  The  whole 
wood  had  been  mined  by  the  French,  and  was  connected  electrically 
with  a  station  in  the  village.  "When  the  Germans  had  advanced, 
fully  a  division  strong,  to  attack  the  wood,  the  French  regiment 
holding  it  ran,  as  if  seized  with  panic,  back  toward  the  village.  The 
Germans  pursued  them  with  shouts  of  victory.  Soon  the  last 
Frenchman  had  emerged  from  the  trees,  but  the  French  commander 
waited  until  the  Germans  were  all  in  the  mined  area.  They  were 
just  beginning  to  debouch  on  the  other  side  when  he  pressed  the 
button.  There  was  a  tremendous  roar,  drowning  for  a  moment 
even  the  boom  of  the  cannon.  The  wood  was  covered  with  a  cloud 
of  smoke,  and  even  on  the  French  trenches  in  Beaumont  ** there 
rained  a  ghastly  dew."  "When  the  French  re-entered  the  wood, 
unopposed,  they  found  not  a  single  German  unwoundod,  and  hardly 
a  score  alive. 


CLIMAX  OF  TEE  WAE  407 

GERMAN  LOSSES  AT  VERDUN. 

The  German  successes  during  the  weeks  of  fighting  in  the 
vicinity  of  Verdun,  consisting  of  a  series  of  advances  along  the 
front,  without  any  decisive  result  so  far  as  the  strength  of  the 
defense  of  the  n.ain  fortress  was  concerned,  were  gained  at  the  cost 
of  enormous  loFses  in  killed  and  wounded.  These  losses  were  esti- 
mated on  Apri/  7  to  have  reached  the  huge  total  of  200,000 — one 
of  the  greates^  battle  losses  in  the  whole  range  of  warfare.  During 
the  period  frjm  February  21,  when  the  battle  of  Verdun  began,  to 
April  1,  it  was  said  that  two  German  army  corps  had  been  with- 
drawn from  the  front,  having  lost  in  the  first  attacks  at  least  one- 
third  of  their  force.  They  subsequently  reappeared  and  again  suf- 
fered like  losses,  the  German  reinforcements  being  practically  used 
up  as  fast  as  they  were  put  in  line. 

Declarations  gathered  from  prisoners  and  the  observations  of 
the  French  stafi:  led  the  latter  to  estimate  that  at  least  one-third  of 
the  total  number  of  men  engaged  were  the  minimum  losses  of  the 
German  infantry  during  the  first  forty  days  of  the  battle,  or  150,000 
men  of  the  first  fighting  line  alone. 

Concerning  the  German  losses  before  Verdun,  Col.  Feyler,  a 
Swiss  military  expert,  wrote  on  April  10  as  follows:  '*It  is  certain 
that  the  first  great  attacks  in  February  and  March  caused  the 
German  assailants  very  exceptional  losses.  The  18th  army  corps 
lost  17,000  men  and  the  3d  corps  lost  22,000.  These  are  figures 
which  in  the  history  of  wars  will  form  a  magnificent  eulogy  on  the 
heroism  of  these  troops.  It  will  become  a  classic  example,  like  that 
of  the  Prussian  Guard  at  St.  Privat,  France,  August  18,  1870.  It  is 
probable  that  before  Verdun,  as  at  St.  Privat,  the  leaders  under- 
estimated the  defenders'  strength,  especially  in  cannon  and  machine 
guns. 

''There  are  other  examples.  In  the  unfruitful  attack  on  Fort 
Vaux,  the  7th  reserve  regiment  was  literally  mowed  down  by 
machine  guns,  while  the  60th  regiment  lost  60  per  cent  of  its  effect- 
ives. In  the  attack  on  the  Malancourt  and  Avocourt  woods,  March 
20,  three  regiments  of  the  11th  Bavarian  division,  whose  record  in 
this  war  seems  to  have  been  particularly  praiseworthy,  lost  about 
50  per  cent  of  their  men. " 

LOSSES  OF  THE  FRENCH. 

"While  the  greater  bulk  of  the  total  losses  in  killed  and  wounded 
before  Verdun  was  sustained  by  the  Germans,  however,  it  must  not 
be  imagined  for  an  instant  that  the  French  defenders  of  the_ fortress 
escaped  lightly.  On  the  contrary,  their  losses  were  likewise  enor- 
tnous.  being  estimated  by  the  German  general  staff  at  a  total  of 


CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR 

not  less  than  110,000  from  February  20  to  April  1.  A  considerable 
number  of  French  troops,  ofiScers  and  men,  were  also  captured  by 
the  Germans  during  the  numerous  attacks  in  February,  March  and 
April  upon  the  French  trenches  and  other  positions  before  Verdun. 

A  MILLION  MEN  ENGAGED. 

Some  idea  of  the  tremendous  forces  engaged  on  both  sides  in 
what  will  probably  be  called  in  history  "the  Siege  of  Verdun," 
m.ay  be  gained  from  the  brief  summary  made  on  April  1  by  an 
observer  present  with  the  army  of  the  Crown  Prince  of  Germany 
on  the  north  front  of  the  Verdun  battlefield,  from  which  point  of 
vantage  he  telegraphed  as  follows: 

"Probably  not  far  from  a  million  men  are  battling  on  both 
sides  around  Verdun.  Nevei  in  the  history  of  the  world  have  such 
enormous  masses  of  military  been  engaged  in  battle  at  one  point. 

"On  the  forty-mile  semicircular  firing-line  around  the  French 
fortress,  from  the  River  Meuse  above  St.  Mihiel  to  Avocourt,  the 
Germans  probably  have  several  thousand  guns,  at  least  2,500,  in 
action  or  reserve.  "Were  each  gun  fired  only  once  an  hour,  there 
would  be  a  shot  every  second. 

"As  probably  half  the  guns  are  of  middle  and  heavy  caliber, 
the  average  weight  per  shell  is  certain  to  be  more  than  twenty-five 
pounds.  It  follows  that  even  in  desultory  firing  about  160,000 
pounds  of  iron,  or  from  four  to  five  carloads,  are  raining  on  the 
French  positions  every  hour.  And  this  is  magnified  many  times 
when  the  fire  is  increased  to  the  intensity  which  the  artillerymen 
call  'drumming'  the  positions  of  the  enemy. 

"To  the  German  guns  must  be  added  the  tremendous  amount 
of  artillery  used  by  the  French  in  their  defense,  estimated  to  be 
almost  as  large  now  as  that  of  the  Germans.  The  conclusion  is 
that  more  than  6,000  cannon,  varying  from  3-ineh  field  guns  to  42- 
centimeter  (16-inch)  siege  mortars,  are  engaged  in  hurling  thou- 
sands of  high  explosive  shells  hourly  in  the  never-ceasing,  thun- 
derous artillery  duels  of  the  mighty  battle  of  Verdun." 

FROM  A  GERMAN  OFFICER'S  VIEWPOINT. 

The  stories  told  by  those  who,  on  the  German  side,  lay  in  trenches 
under  shell-fire  before  Verdun  for  days  at  a  time  and  week  after 
week,  freezing,  thirsting,  in  mud  and  water,  between  the  dead 
and  the  djdng,  thrilled  the  hearer  with  their  pathos  and  devotion. 
These  were  the  men  who,  like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  beat  almost  inces- 
santly against  the  obstinate  fortifications  of  Verdun,  and  there 
learned  a  new  respect  for  the  French  enemy.  Such  a  story  was 
written  from  the  front  in  April  by  a  German  ofBcer  named  Boss — 


CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR  409 

a  man  of  Scottish  descent — who,  before  the  war,  was  editor  of  a 
newspaper  in  Munich.    In  the  Berlin  Vossische  Zeitung  he  said : 

''It  is  a  worthy,  embittered  foe  against  whom  this  last  decisive 
struggle  is  aimed.  France  is  fighting  for  her  existence.  She  is  no 
weaker  than  we  are  in  men,  guns,  or  munitions.  Only  one  thing 
decides  between  us— will  and  nerves.  Every  doubting,  belittling 
word  is  a  creeping  poison  which  kills  joyful,  strong  hope  and  does 
more  damage  than  a  thousand  foes.  Only  if  we  are  convinced  to  our 
marrow  that  we  shall  win,  shall  we  conquer. 

"In  this  colossal  combat,  where  numbers  and  mechanical 
weapons  are  so  utterly  alike,  moral  superiority  is  everything.  We 
have  more  than  once  had  the  experience  that  the  effective  result  of 
a  battle  has  depended  upon  who  considered  himself  the  victor  and 
acted  accordingly.  Often  the  merest  remnant  of  will  and  nerves 
was  the  factor  that  influenced  the  decision. 

"War,  which  only  smoldered  here  and  there  during  the  endless 
trench  fighting,  like  damp  wood,  burns  here  with  such  all-consuming 
fire  that  divisions  have  to  be  called  up  after  days  and  hours  in  the 
trenches,  and  are  ground  to  pieces  and  burned  up  into  so  many 
cinders  and  ashes. 

"Such  intensity  of  battle  as  is  here  before  Verdun  is  unheard  of. 
No  picture,  no  comparison,  can  give  the  remotest  conception  of  the 
concentration  of  guns  and  shells  with  which  the  two  antagonists 
are  raging  against  each  other.  I  have  seen  troops  who  had  held  out 
in  the  fire  for  days  and  weeks,  to  whom  in  exposed  positions  food 
could  hardly  be  brought,  on  whose  bodies  the  clothes  were  not  dry, 
who,  yet  reeking  with  dirt  and  dampness,  had  the  nerve  for  new 
storming  operations." 

BATTLE  OF  CATLLETTE  WOOD. 

Among  the  fiercer  struggles  before  Verdun,  the  battle  of  Cail- 
lette  Wood,  east  of  the  fortress  city,  will  have  a  place  in  history  as 
one  of  the  most  bloody  and  thrilling. 

The  position  of  the  wood,  to  the  right  of  Douaumont,  was  im- 
portant as  part  of  the  French  line.  It  was  carried  by  the  Germans 
on  Sunday  morning,  April  2,  after  a  bombardment  of  twelve  hours, 
which  seemed  to  break  even  the  record  of  Verdun  for  intensity. 
The  French  curtain  of  fire  had  checked  their  further  advance, 
according  to  a  special  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Herald,  and  a 
savage  countercharge  in  the  afternoon  had  gained  for  the  defenders 
a  corpse-strewn  welter  of  splintered  trees  and  shell-shattered 
ground  that  had  been  the  southern  comer  of  the  wood.  Further 
charges  had  broken  against  a  massive  barricade,  the  value  of  which 
as  a  defense  paid  good  interest  on  the  expenditure  of  German 
lives  which  its  construction  demanded. 


410  CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR 

"A  wonderful  work  had  been  accomplished  that  Sunday  morning 
in  the  livid,  London-like  fog  and  twilight  produced  by  the  lowering 
clouds  and  battle  smoke. 

FORMED  A  HUMAN  CHAIN  UNDER  FIRE. 

"While  the  German  assaulting  columns  in  the  van  fought  the 
French  hand  to  hand,  picked  corps  of  workers  behind  them  formed 
an  amazing  human  chain  from  the  woods  to  the  east  over  the 
shoulder  of  the  center  of  the  Douaumont  slope  to  the  crossroads  of 
a  network  of  communicating  trenches  600  yards  in  the  rear. 

Four  deep  was  this  human  chain,  and  along  its  line  nearly 
3,000  men  passed  an  unending  stream  of  wooden  billets,  sandbags, 
chevaux-de-frise,  steel  shelters,  and  light  mitrailleuses — in  a  word, 
all  the  material  for  defensive  fortifications  passed  from  hand  to 
hand,  like  buckets  at  a  country  fire. 

Despite  the  hurricane  of  French  artillery  fire,  the  German  com- 
mander had  adopted  the  only  possible  means  of  rapid  transport 
over  the  shell-torn  ground  covered  with  debris,  over  which  neither 
horse  nor  cart  could  go.  Every  moment  counted.  Unless  barriers 
rose  swiftly,  the  French  counter-attacks,  already  massing,  would 
sweep  the  assailants  back  into  the  wood. 

Cover  was  disdained.  The  workers  stood  at  full  height,  and 
the  chain  stretched  openly  across  the  hillocks,  a  fair  target  for 
the  French  gunners.  The  latter  missed  no  chance.  Again  and 
again  great  holes  were  torn  in  the  line  by  the  bursting  melinite, 
but  as  coolly  as  at  maneuvers  the  iron-disciplined  soldiers  of  Ger- 
many sprang  forward  from  shelters  to  take  the  places  of  the  fallen, 
and  the  work  went  on  apace. 

USE  THE  DEAD  AS  A  SHELTER. 

Gradually  another  line  doubled  the  chain  of  the  workers,  as  the 
upheaved  corpses  formed  a  continuous  embankment,  each  additional 
dead  man  giving  greater  protection  to  his  comrades,  until  the  bar- 
rier began  to  form  shape  along  the  diameter  of  the  wood.  There 
others  were  digging  and  burying  logs  deep  in  the  earth,  installing 
shelters  and  mitrailleuses  or  feverishly  building  fortifications. 

At  last  the  work  was  ended  at  fearful  cost ;  but  as  the  vanguard 
sullenly  withdrew  behind  it,  from  the  whole  length  burst  a  havoc 
of  flame  upon  the  advancing  Frenchmen.  Vainly  the  latter  dashed 
forward.  They  couldn't  pass,  and  as  the  evening  fell  the  barrier 
still  held,  covering  the  German  working  parties,  burrowed  like 
moles  in  the  mass  of  trenches  and  boyeaux. 

FRENCH  PLAN  TO  BLAST  BARRICADE, 

So  sound  was  the  barricade,  padded  with  sandbags  and  eartb- 


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412  CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR 

THE  VERDUN  BATTLETIEU) 

Key  to  Map  on  Opposite  Pag* 

Battle  lines  showing  the  approximate  positions  of  the  German  troops  at 
▼eriun  at  various  dates  are  designated  in  the  map  as  follows: 

A.  Positions  Feb.  21,  1916,  when  Gksrman  offensive  was  begun. 

B.  Positions  on  Feb.  23. 
O.     Positions  on  Feb.  25. 

D.  Positions  on  Feb.  27. 

E.  Bethincourt  salient,   April  7,  before  French  retired. 

F.  Positions  on  April  18. 

The  more  important  actions  of  tbe  Verdun  campaign  in  their  chronological 
•rder  are  indicated  as  follows: 

1.  Germans   open  offeneive  against  Verdun,  piercing  French  lines. 

2.  French  evacuate  Haumont,  Feb.  22. 

3.  French  recapture  Forest  of  Canres,  Feb.  22,  but  lose  it  again. 

4.  Germans  pierce  French  line,  taking  3,000  prisoners. 

5.  Germans  capture  Brabant,  Haumont,   Samogneux,   etc.,  F^b.   23. 

6.  Berlin  reports  capture  of  four  villages  and  10,000  French  prisoners, 

Feb.  23. 

7.  Germans   capture  Louvemont   and  fortified  positions  Feb.   25.     Fort 

Douaumont    stormed    by    Brandenburg   corps,    then    surrounded    by 
French,  but  relieved  by  Germans  March  3. 

8.  Germans  take  Champneuville  Feb.  27,  with  5,000  prisoners. 

9.  Bloody  encounters  at  village  of  Eix  on  Woevre  plain,  Feb.  27. 

10.  Germans  occupy  Moranville  and  Haudiomont,  Feb.  27. 

11.  Champion  and  Manheuilles  fall  Feb.  28;  1,300  French  prisoners. 

12.  Verdun  battered  and  set  on  fire  by  42-centimeter  guns. 

13.  French  evacuate  Fort  Vaux,  after  heavy  bombardment,  March  1. 

14.  Germans  begin  violent  bombardment  of  Dead  Man's  Hill,  March  1. 

15.  Germans  capture  village  of  Douaumont,  March  2;  1,000  prisoners. 

16.  Fresnes  captured  by  Germans,  March  5. 

17.  Germans  capture  Forges,  March  5;  drive  against  French  left  wing. 

18.  Germans  take  Eegneville,  west  of  Meuse,  March  6. 

19.  Germans  capture  heights  of  Cumieres,  etc.,  March  7. 

20.  Village  of  Vaux  taken  and  retaken  by  Germans,  March  8-10. 

21.  Crown  Prince  brings  up  100,000  reinforcements,  March  10-12. 

22.  French  recapture  trenches  March  14,  w^th  1,000  German  prisoners. 

23.  Struggle  for  heights  of  Le  Mort  Homme,  March  16. 

24.  Germans  capture  positions  north  of  Avocourt,  March  20. 

25.  Artillery  duels  east  of  Verdun,  March  25. 

26.  French   recapture  part   of   Avocourt   Wood,   March   28. 

27.  Germans  capture  Malancourt,  March  29-31, 

28.  Heavy  fighting  south  of  Douaumont,  April  2-5;  French  successes  in 

battle  of  Caillette  woods,  etc. 

29.  Germans  recapture  Haucourt,  April  6. 

80.  Germans  close  in  on  Bethincourt  salient,  April  7. 

81.  French  withdra>v  from  Bethincourt  April  9,  but  hold  linds  south. 

32.     French   lines   bombarded  continuously,  April  10-15,  with   violent   as- 
saults but  no  decisive  results. 


CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR  413 

works,  that  the  artillery  fire  fell  practically  unavailicg,  and  the 
French  general  realized  that  the  barrier  must  be  breached  by  ex- 
plosives, as  in  Napoleon's  battles. 

It  was  8  0  'clock  and  already  pitch  dark  in  that  blighted  atmos- 
phere when  a  special  blasting  corps,  as  devoted  as  the  German 
chain  workers,  crept  forward  toward  the  German  position.  The  rest 
of  the  French  waited,  sheltered  in  the  ravine  east  of  Douaumont, 
until  an  explosion  should  signal  the  assault. 

In  Indian  file,  to  give  the  least  possible  sign  of  their  presence  to 
the  hostile  sentinels,  the  French  blasters  advanced  in  a  long  line,  at 
first  with  comparative  rapidity,  only  stiffening  into  the  grotesque 
rigidity  of  simulated  death  when  the  searchlights  played  upon  them, 
and  resuming  progress  when  the  beam  shifted.  Then  as  they 
approached  the  barrier  they  moved  slowly  and  more  slowly.  When 
they  arrived  within  forty  yards  the  movement  of  the  crawling  men 
became  imperceptible. 

The  blasting  corps  lay  at  full  length,  like  hundreds  of  other 
motionless  forms  about  them,  but  all  were  working  busily.  With 
a  short  trowel,  the  file  leader  seuflfled  the  earth  from  under  his 
body,  taking  care  not  to  raise*  his  arms,  and  gradually  making  a 
shallow  trench  deep  enough  to  hide  him.  The  others  followed  his 
example  until  the  whole  line  had  sunk  beneath  the  surface. 

Then  the  leader  began  scooping  his  way  forward,  while  his 
followers  deepened  the  furrow  already  made.  Thus  literally  inch  by 
inch  the  files  stole  forward,  sheltered  in  a  narrow  ditch  from  the 
gusts  of  German  machine-gun  fire  that  constantly  swept  the  terrain. 
Here  and  there  the  sentinels'  eyes  caught  a  suspicious  movement  or 
an  incautiously  raised  head  senk  down  pierced  by  a  bullet,  but  the 
stealthy,  molelike  advance  continued.  Hours  passed.  It  was  nearly 
dawn  when  the  remnant  of  the  blasting  corps  reached  the  barri- 
cade at  last  and  huiTiedly  put  their  explosives  in  position.  Back 
they  wriggled  breathlessly.  An  over-hasty  movement  meant  death, 
yet  they  must  hurry  lest  the  imminent  explosions  overwhelm  them. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  roar  that  dwarfed  the  cannonade  and 
all  along  the  barrier  fountains  of  fire  rose  skyward,  hurling  a  rain 
of  fragments  upon  what  was  left  of  the  blasting  party. 

THEEE  OUT  OF  FOUB,DIE. 

The  barricade  was  breached,  but  75  per  cent  of  the  devoted 
corps  had  given  their  lives  to  do  it. 

As  the  survivors  lay  exhausted  the  attackers  charged  over 
them,  cheering.  In  the  melee  that  followed  there  was  no  room  to 
shoot  or  wield  the  rifle.  Some  of  the  French  fought  with  unfixed 
bayonets,  like  the  stabbing  swords  of  the  Roman  legions.    Othera 


414  CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR 

had  knives  or  clubs.    All  were  battle-frenzied,  as  only  Frenchmen 
can  be. 

The  Germans  broke,  and  as  the  first  rays  of  dawn  streaked  the 
sky  only  a  small  section  of  the  wood  was  still  in  their  hands.  There 
a  similar  barrier  stopped  progress,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
night's  work  must  be  repeated;  but  the  hearts  of  the  French 
soldiers  were  leaping  with  victory  as  they  dug  furiously  to  con- 
solidate the  ground  they  had  gained,  strewn  with  German  bodies, 
thick  as  leaves.  Over  6,000  Germans  were  counted  in  a  section  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  square,  and  the  conquerors  saw  why  their  cannon- 
ade had  been  so  ineffective.  The  Germans  had  piled  a  second  bar- 
rier of  corpses  close  behind  the  first,  so  that  the  soft  human  flesh 
would  act  as  a  buffer  to  neutralize  the  force  of  the  shells. 

FRENCH  DEFENSE  TRULY  HEROIC. 

While  all  the  German  attacks  upon  the  French  lines  in  front 
of  Verdun  were  marked  with  the  utmost  valor  and  intensity  of 
devotion,  the  continuous  defense  made  by  the  French  under  Gen- 
eral Petain  was  equally  vigorous  and  often  truly  heroic.  Volun- 
teers frequently  remained  in  the  French  trenches  from  which  the 
rest  of  the  French  defenders  had  been  compelled  to  retire,  to 
telephone  information  about  the  advancing  enemy  to  the  French 
batteries,  and  some  of  the  heaviest  losses  of  the  Germans  occurred 
when  they  believed  themselves  succesvsful  in  an  attack. 

The  consequences  of  such  devotion  on  the  part  of  French  vol- 
unteers were  exemplified  early  in  the  morning  of  April  12,  at  a 
point  called  Caurettes  Woods,  along  the  northeastern  slopes  of  the 
hill  known  as  Le  Mort  Homme  (Dead  Man's  Hill),  where  a  French 
withdrawal  had  been  carried  out.  Volunteers  remained  behind  to 
signal  information  to  the  French  batteries,  and  an  eyewitness  of  the 
attack  described  what  followed  thus : 

"The  French  seventy-fives  immediately  concentrated  on  the 
hostile  trench  line.  The  Germans  suffered  heavily,  but  persevered, 
and  soon  dense  columns  appeared  amid  the  shell-torn  brushwood 
on  the  southern  fringe  of  the  Corbeaux  Wood,  pouring  down  into 
the  valley  separating  them  from  the  former  French  position  on 
the  hillside. 

"Thinking  the  French  still  held  the  latter,  the  Germans  de- 
ployed with  their  latest  trench-storming  device  in  the  form  of 
liquid  fire  containers,  with  special  groups  of  four  installed,  two 
men  working  the  pump  and  two  directing  the  fire  jet. 

"The  grayness  of  the  dawn  was  illuminated  by  sheets  of  green 
and  red  flame  and  black  oily  clouds  rol'ed  along  the  valley  toward 
the  river  like  smoke  from  a  burning  '  gusher.  * 


CLIMAX  OF  THE   WAR  415 

"Suddenly  the  air  was  filled  with  shrill  whistling,  as  shells  of 
the  seventy-fives  were  hurled  against  the  attackers.  Thanks  to  the 
devoted  sentinels  dying  at  their  posts  in  the  sea  of  fire,  the  range 
was  exact,  and  the  exploding  melinite  shattered  the  charging 
columns. 

"An  appalling  scene  followed.  The  shells  had  burst  or  over- 
thrown the  fire  containers  and  the  Germans  were  seen  running 
wildly  amid  the  flames  which  overwhelmed  hundreds  of  wounded 
and  disabled. 

FRENCH    TROOPS    CHARGE. 

**In  this  scene  of  confusion  the  French  charged  with  bayonet, 
despite  the  furnace  heat  and  fumes  produced  by  the  red-hot  con- 
tainers flying  in  all  directions.  The  enemy  offered  little  resist- 
ance.   It  was  like  a  slaughter  of  frenzied  animals. 

"The  French  mitrailleuse  corps  pressed  close  on  their  comrades' 
heels,  placing  weapons  at  vantage  points  that  had  escaped  the  fire 
and  showering  a  leaden  hail  upon  "^he  main  body  of  Germans  retreat- 
ing up  Corbeaux  Hill. 

"Hundreds  fought  in  a  terror-stricken  mob  to  hide  in  a  hole 
that  might  have  sheltered  a  s^^-ore.  Those  beneath  were  stifled. 
Those  above  threw  themselves  screaming  into  the  air  as  the  bul- 
lets pierced  them  or  fell  dead  in  a  wild  dash  toward  a  safer  refuge. 
Flushed  with  success,  the  French  charged  again  right  to  the  en- 
trance of  the  wood,  and  the  slaughter  recommenced, 

"Five  of  the  heroic  sentinels,  wonderful  to  say,  returned  with 
the  French  wave  that  ebbed  when  victory  was  won  for  that  day," 

CONDITIONS  AT  VERDUN  ON  APRIL  20. 

Several  determined  attacks  were  delivered  by  the  Germans  on 
the  French  lines  at  Verdun  between  April  15  and  20,  enormous 
masses  of  men,  sometimes  as  many  as  100,000,  being  hurled  against 
points  in  the  northeast  sector  of  the  battle  front.  But  the  French 
defense  held  firm,  although  some  trenches  were  lost  and  a  consider- 
able number  of  French  prisoners  were  taken.  Up  to  this  tim.e  the 
total  number  of  prisoners  taken  by  the  Germans  at  Verdun,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  offensive,  February  21,  was  claimed  to  be  711 
officers  and  38,155  men. 

Such  were  the  conditions  before  Verdtin  on  April  20,  when,  with 
spring  well  under  way  on  the  Western  battle  fronts,  there  was  daily 
expectation  of  a  vigorous  drive  by  the  Allies  against  the  German 
lines  between  Verdun  and  the  sea.  While  both  sides  expressed 
confidence  in  the  outcome  of  the  war,  no  man  could  foretell  with 
any  degree  of  certainty  what  the  final  result  of  the  great  struggle 
would  be- 


416  CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR 

ZEPPELITT  RAIDS  OX  ENGLAND. 

During  the  month  of  March  and  early  in  April  a  number  of 
Zeppelin  raids  upon  various  parts  of  England  did  more  or  less 
damage,  though  none  of  an  important  military  character.  The 
east  coast  of  Scotland  also  suffered  from  a  Zeppelin  visit  in  April. 

Reports  and  figures  issued  by  the  British  War  Office  showed 
*.hat  during  the  fifteen  months  from  Christmas,  1914,  to  April  1, 
1916,  no  fewer  than  thirty-four  separate  aerial  raids  occurred  in 
'Glreat  Britain,  including  those  of  aeroplanes  and  Zeppelins.  The 
total  casualties  suffered,  mainly  by  civilians,  men,  women,  and 
children,  were  303  killed  and  713  injured.  This  record  of  results  is 
interesting  when  it  is  remembered  what  they  must  have  cost  tfie 
Germans  in  money  and  men,  in  view  of  the  comparatively  small 
amount  of  damage  that  seems  to  have  been  done.  Germany,  how- 
ever, insisted  that  her  air  raids  had  done  more  substantial  harm  to 
England  than  the  War  Office  would  admit. 

RUSSIAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  EAST. 

With  the  approach  of  spring  in  1916,  new  activities  began  or. 
the  Eastern  front,  and  the  Russians  threatened  a  vigorous  attack 
on  the  German  lines  in  the  north  "after  the  thaw."  By  the  middle 
of  the  summer  the  Russians  expected,  according  to  semi-official 
reports,  to  have  twelve  million  men  armed,  drilled,  and  equipped 
for  battle. 

On  April  1  the  Berlin  government  declared' 'that  in  the  Russian 
off'ensive  on  the  Eastern  front,  against  Field  IVtarshal  von  Hinden- 
burg,  which  lasted  from  March  18  to  March  30,  the  losses  to  the 
Russians  were  140,000  out  of  the  500,000  men  engaged.  This  cam- 
paign was  carried  on  mostly  in  the  frozen  terrain  of  the  Dvinsk 
marshes,  and  along  the  Dvina  River,  and  the  German  losses  were 
also  heavy,  although  the  Russian  attacks  were  as  a  rule  repulsed. 

FALL  OF  TREBIZOND. 

In  Asia  Minor,  however,  Russian  successes  of  the  winter  were 
crowned  in  the  early  spring  by  the  fall  of  the  Baltic  seaport  of  Trebi- 
zond,  which  was  occupied  on  April  18.  This  citj'",  the  most  important 
Turkish  port  on  the  Black  Sea,  was  captured  by  the  Russian  army 
advancing  from  Erzerum.  Aided  by  the  Russian  Black  Sea  fleet, 
the  invaders  pushed  past  the  last  series  of  natural  obstacles  along 
the  Anatolian  coast  when,  on  Sunday,  April  16,  they  occupied  a 
strongly  fortified  Turkish  position  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Kara 
Dore  River,  twelve  miles  outside  the  fortified  town.  The  official 
Russian  report  said : 

"Our  valiant  troops,  after  a  sanguinary  battle  on  the  Kara  Dere 
River,  pressed  the  Turks  without  respite,  and  surmoiuited  incredible 


CLIMAX  OF  TEE  WAH  417 

obstacles,  everywhere  breaking  the  fierce  resistance  of  the  enemy. 
The  well-combined  action  of  the  fleet  permitted  tbe  execution  of 
most  hazardous  lauding  operations,  and  lent  the  support  of  its 
artilleiy  to  the  troops  operating  in  the  coastal  region 

"Credit  for  this  fresh  victory  also  is  partly  due  the  assistance 
given  our  Caucasian  army  by  the  troops  operating  in  other  directions 
in  Asia  Minor.  By  their  desperate  fighting  and  heroic  exploits, 
they  did  everything  in  their  power  to  facilitate  the  task  of  the 
detachments  on  the  coast." 

GERMANY  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  long-continued  controversy  between  the  United  States  and 
Germany  over  the  methods  and  results  of  German  submarine  war- 
fare came  to  a  climax  with  the  torpedoing  of  the  British  channel 
steamer  Sussex,  on  March  24,  1916,  in  pursuance  of  the  new  German 
policy  of  attacking  merchant  vessels  without  warning.  There  was 
no  pretense  that  the  Sussex  was  an  ** armed  merchantman,"  and 
no  warning  was  given  the  passengers  and  crew,  the  former  includ- 
ing a  number  of  Americans  on  their  way  from  Folkestone  to  the 
French  port  of  Dieppe.  The  ship,  though  badly  damaged,  made 
port  with  assistance,  but  the  loss  of  life  from  the  explosion  and 
drowning  amounted  to  fifty,  and  several  American  passengers  were 
injured.  Germany  disclaimed  responsibility  for  the  disaster,  but 
the  weight  of  evidence  pointed  to  a  German  submarine  as  the 
cause,  and  in  view  of  the  repeated  violations  of  German  promises 
to  the  United  States  to  give  due  warning  to  passenger  vessels  and 
insure  safety  to  their  occupants.  President  Wilson  and  his  advisers, 
in  April,  seriously  considered  the  advisability  of  breaking  off  diplo- 
matic relations  with  the  German  Em^pire,  by  way  of  a  protest  in  the 
name  of  humanity.  On  April  18  the  President  decided  to  lay  the 
whole  matter  before  Congress. 

The  record  of  German  submarine  attacks  involving  death  or 
injury  to  American  citizens  up  to  this  time  included  the  sinking 
or  damaging  of  the  following  vessels :  British  steamer  Falaba,  160 
lives  lost,  including  one  American;  American  steamer  Gulflight, 
three  Americans  lost;  British  steamship  Lusitania,  1,134  lives  lost, 
including  115  Americans;  American  steamer  Leelanaw,  sunk;  liner 
Arabic  sunk,  two  Americans  killed;  liner  Hesperian  sunk  mysteri- 
ously, three  days  after  Germany  had  promised  to  sink  no  more 
liners;  Italian  liner  Ancona  sunk  (by  Austrian  submarine),  with 
loss  of  American  lives ;  Japanese,  liner  Yanaka  Maru  sunk  in  Medi- 
terranean ;  British  liner  Persia  sunk,  United  States  Consul  McNeely 
killed;  steamer  Sussex  attacked,  several  Americans  seriously  in- 
jured; British  steamers  Manchester  Engineer,  Eagle  Point  and 
Berwyn  Dale  attacked,  endangering  American  members  of  crewa. 


418  CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR 

A  FIITAX.  NOTE  TO  GEEMAKY. 

On  Wednesday,  April  19,  President  Wilson  appeared  before 
Congress,  assembled  in  joint  session  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  him, 
and  announced  that  he  had  addressed  a  final  note  of  warning  to 
Germany,  giving  the  Imperial  German  Government  irrevocable  no- 
tice that  the  United  States  vrould  break  off  diplomatic  relations  if 
the  illegal  and  inhuman  submarine  campaign  was  continued.  The 
language  used  by  the  President,  after  recounting  the  course  of 
events  leading  to  his  action,  was  as  follows: 

"I  have  deemed  it  my  duty,  therefore,  to  say  to  the  Imperial 
German  Government  that  if  it  is  still  its  purpose  to  prosecute  relent- 
less and  indiscriminate  warfare  against  vessels  of  commerce  by  the 
use  of  submarines,  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  at  least 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  but  one  course  it  can  pursue ; 
and  that  unless  the  Imperial  German  Government  should  now  imme- 
diately declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  its  present  method 
of  warfare  against  passenger  and  freight-carrying  vessels  this  gov- 
ernment can  have  no  choice  but  to  sever  diplomatic  relations  with 
the  government  of  the  German  Empire  altogether/* 

THE   GERMAN   WAR   CLOUD   PASSES. 

Germany  replied  to  the  President's  note  on  May  4,  denying  the 
implication  of  intentional  destruction  of  vessels  regardless  of  their 
nature  or  nationality,  and  declaring  that  in  future  no  merchant 
vessels  should  be  sunk  without  warning  or  without  saving  human 
lives,  '  *  unless  the  ships  attempt  to  escape  or  offer  resistance. ' ' 

On  May  8,  President  Wilson  dispatched  a  reply  to  Germany's 
note,  accepting  the  German  promises  as  to  the  future  conduct  of  sub- 
marine warfare,  but  refusing  to  regard  them  as  contingent  on  any 
action  between  the  United  States  and  any  other  country.  Germany 
later  admitted  that  a  German  submarine  sank  the  Sussex,  and  prom- 
ised that  the  commander  would  be  punished  and  indemnities  paid 
to  the  families  of  those  who  perished. 

This  was  regarded  at  Washington  as  practically  closing  the  sub- 
marine controversy,  and  the  German  war-cloud,  which  had  assumed 
serious  proportions,  gradual!}^  passed  away. 

ABORTIVE  REVOLT  IN  IRELAND. 

An  attempt  at  rebellion  by  Irish  extremists,  accompanied  by 
bloody  riots  in  Dublin  and  other  cities  in  the  south  and  west_  of 
Ireland,  followed  the  sinking  on  April  21  of  a  German  vessel  which, 
convoyed  by  a  submarine,  endeavored  to  land  arms  and  ammunition 
on  the  Irish  coast.  Sir  Roger  Casement,  an  anti-Britisli  Irishman  of 
considerable  note,  who  had  been  resident  in  Germany  for  some  months, 
was  taken  prisoner  upon  landing  from  the  submarine. 


Top — American  flghters  in  France,  Just  out  of  the  trenches,  are  seen  at  a  wayside 
station  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  receiving  welcome  refreshments  within  gunfire  of  the 
battle  front.      (Photo  from  I.  F.  8.) 

Bottom — First  aid  given  to  a  wounded  Germaa  prisoner  by  American  soldiers  near 
the  front.  Am  example  of  American  fair  play  In  striking  contrast  to  Boche  method* 
iOopvriffht,  Committee  on  Public  Information.) 


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CLIMAX  OF  THE  WAR  '419 

For  several  days,  beginning  April  25,  the  rebels,  Mrto  formed  an 
inconsiderable  part  of  the  Irish  people  and  were  strongly  condemned 
by  the  Nationalist  leaders  and  party,  held  possession  of  streets  and 
public  buildings  in  Dublin.  Incendiary  fires  did  damage  estimated 
at  over  $100,000,000,  many  peaceable  citizens  were  killed,  and  the 
casualties  among  British  troops  and  constabulary  amounted  to  521, 
including  124  killed,  before  the  uprising  was  quelled  and  the  ''Irish 
Republic"  overthrown,  with  the  unconditional  surrender  of  its 
deluded  leaders,  on  April  30.  Next  day  the  remnants  of  the  Sinn 
Fein  rebels  in  Ireland  surrendered,  making  over  1,000  prisoners,  who 
were  transported  to  English  prisons.  Military  law  had  been  pro- 
claimed throughout  Ireland  and  nearly  a  score  of  the  leaders  of  the 
revolt,  who  were  accused  of  murder,  were  tried  by  court-martial  and 
summarily  executed.  The  revolt  was  alleged  to  have  been  encouraged 
in  Germany  and  also  by  Irish  extremists  in  the  United  States,  by 
whom  the  rebel  leaders  executed  in  Ireland  were  regarded  as 
* '  martyrs. ' ' 

BRITISH    SURRENDER   AT   KUT-EL  AMARA. 

After  holding  out  against  the  Turks  at  Kut-el-Amara,  in  Meso- 
potamia, for  143  days.  General  Townshend,  the  British  commander, 
was  compelled,  through  exhaustion  of  his  supplies,  to  surrender  his 
force  of  9,d00  officers  and  men,  on  April  28.  This  force  included  about 
2,000  English  and  7,000  Indian  troops,  many  being  on  the  sick  list. 
The  Turks  recognized  the  gallantry  of  the  defense  and  refused  to 
accept  General  To-Riishend 's  sword.  Many  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
were  exchanged,  and  it  was  planned  to  imprison  the  rest  of  the 
British  force  on  an  island  in  the  Sea  of  Marmora. 

ATTACKS  ON  VERDUN  CONTINUE. 

German  attacks  on  the  French  lines  at  Verdun  continued  with  the 
utmost  vigor  up  to  June  10.  From  time  to  time  they  resulted  in 
small  successes,  gained  at  immense  cost  in  human  life.  From  May 
27  to  May  30  the  battle  raged  with  especial  severity,  this  period 
marking  the  greatest  effort  made  by  the  Germans  during  the  whole  of 
the  prolonged  operations  at  Verdun.  The  French  stood  firm  under 
an  avalanche  of  shot  and  shell,  and  drove  back  wave  after  wave  of 
a  tremendous  flood  of  Teutonic  infantry.  The  infantry  fighting  in 
this  struggle  was  described  as  the  fiercest  of  the  war. 

The  total  German  casualties  up  to  June  1  were  estimated  at  nearly 
3,000,000 ;  the  French  at  2,500,000,  and  the  British  at  600,000,  over 
25,000  of  the  latter  being  commissioned  officers. 

General  Joseph  S.  Gallieni,  former  minister  of  war  of  France, 
died  at  Versailles  on  May  27,  universally  mourned  by  the  French, 
who  regarded  him  as  the  sa\'iour  of  Paris  in  the  critical  days  of 
August-September,  1914,  when  he  was  military  governor  of  Paris 
and  commander  of  the  intrenched  camp. 


CHAPTER  XXVn 

TKE  WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA  FIGHT. 

British  and  German  High-Sea  Fleets  Finally  Clash  in  the 
North  Sea — Huge  Losses  in  Tonnage  and  Men  on 
Both  Sides — British  Navy  Remains  in  Control  of  the 
Sea. 

After  many  months  of  unceasing  sea  patrol  on  the  part  of  the 
British,  and  of  diligent  preparation  in  port  on  the  German  side,  it 
came  at  last — the  long-expected  clash  of  mighty  rival  fleets  in  the 
North  Sea. 

It  was  on  the  misty  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  ]\Iay  31,  that  Admiral 
David  Beatty,  in  command  of  Britain's  battle-cruiser  squadron, 
sighted  the  vanguard  of  the  German  high-seas  fleet  steaming  "on  an 
enterprise  to  the  north"  from  its  long-accustomed  anchorages  in  the 
placid  waters  of  the  Kiel  Canal  and  under  the  guns  of  Helgoland. 

The  British  battleship  fleet  was  far  away  to  the  northwest,  but 
the  wireless  promptly  flashed  the  signal,  '* Enemy  in  sight,"  and  as 
the  battle-cruisers  raced  to  close  quarters  with  the  tardy  foe,  and 
sacrificed  themselves  in  the  effort  to  hold  him  in  the  open  sea,  down 
from  the  north  rushed  the  leviathans  of  the  Mistress  of  the  Seas, 
that  were  counted  on  to  crush  the  enemy  when  the  opportunity  came. 

But  the  early  stages  of  the  fig  at  found  the  British  battling  against 
odds.  Germany's  mightiest  warcraft  were  in  the  shadows  of  the 
mist,  behind  the  cruiser  scouts;  destroyers  swarmed  around  them, 
submarines  appeared  from  the  depths,  and  Zeppelins  hovered  over- 
liead. 

Gallantly  did  Admiral  Beatty  on  his  victorious  Lion  struggle  to 
hold  his  own  till  the  British  battleships  came  up  ;  but  one  after  another 
his  hard-pressed  cruisers  succumbed  to  weight  of  metal,  until  five 
of  them  had  sunk  beneath  the  sea,  with  all  their  devoted  crews,  before 
the  near  approach  of  Admiral  Jellicoe  and  his  dreadnaughts  sent  the 
enemy  scuttling  back  to  port,  to  claim  a  victory  that  startled  the 
world  for  a  day,  only  to  disappear  when  the  full  extent  of  the  German 
losses  became  known,  and  it  was  learned  that  the  German  high-seas 
fleet  had  lost  some  of  its  proudest  units,  that  its  losses,  not  only  rela- 
tively but  absolutely  almost  equaled  those  of  the  British  fleet,  and 
that  the  British  remained  in  full  control  of  the  high  seas,  after  scour- 
ing them  in  vain  for  further  signs  of  the  enemy. 

420 


WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT  421 

THE  BRITISH   LOSSES. 

The  ships  lost  by  the  British  in  the  battle  included  three  battle- 
cruisers,  the  Queen  Mary,  Indefatigable,  and  Invincible;  three  light 
cruisers,  the  Defense,  Black  Prince,  and  Warrior,  and  eight  destroy- 
ers, the  Tipperary,  Turbulent,  Nestor,  Alcaster,  Fortune,  Sparrow- 
hawk,  Ardent,  and  Shark.  The  "Wariror,  badly  damaged,  was  taken  in 
tow,  but  sank  before  reaching  port.  All  but  one  of  its  crew  were 
saved. 

The  British  dreadnaught  Marlborough  was  also  damaged,  but  suc- 
ceeded in  making  port  for  repairs. 

Following  are  particulars  of  the  British  cruisers  sunk: 

Queen  Mary— 27,000  tons;  720  feet  long.  Eight  13.5  inch  guns, 
sixteen  4  inch  guns,  three  21  inch  torpedo  tubes.  Complement,  900. 
Cost,  $10,000,000. 

Indefatigable— 18,750  tons ;  578  feet  long.  Eight  12  inch  guns, 
sixteen  4  inch  guns,  three  21  inch  torpedo  tubes.  Complement,  900. 
Cost,  $8,000,000. 

Invincible — 17,250  tons;  562  feet  long.  Eight  12  inch  guns, 
sixteen  4  inch  guns,  three  21  inch  torpedo  tubes.  Complement,  731. 
Cost,  $8,760,000. 

Defense — 14,600  tons;  525  feet  long.  Four  9.2  inch  guns,  ten 
7.5  inch  guns,  sixteen  12  pounders,  five  torpedo  tubes.  Complement, 
755.    Cost,  $6,810,000. 

Black  Prince — 13,550  tons;  480  feet  long.  Six  9.2  inch  guns, 
twenty  3  pounders,  three  torpedo  tubes.  Complement,  704,  Cost, 
$5,750,000. 

Warrior — 13,550  tons;  480  feet  long.  Six  9.2  inch  guns,  four 
7.5  inch  guns,  twenty-four  3  pounders,  three  torpedo  tubes.  Com- 
plement, 704,  all  saved  but  one.     Cost,  $5,900,000. 

The  destroyers  sunk  were  each  of  about  950  tons,  266  feet  long, 
and  carried  a  complement  of  100  men.  Only  a  few  survdvors  were 
picked  up  after  the  battle. 

the  GERMAN  LOSSES. 

The  German  losses,  as  claimed  by  the  British,  included  two 
dreadnaughts,  believed  to  be  the  Hindenburgh  and  Westfalen,  each 
of  approximately  26,000  tons,  with  a  compliment  of  1,000  men;  the 
battle-cruiser  Derflflinger,  26,600  tons,  complement,  900  men;  the 
battleship  Pommern,  of  12,997  tons,  complement,  729  men,  cost, 
$6,000,000;  the  new  fast  cruiser  Elbing,  of  5,000  tons,  complement, 
500  men ;  the  cruisers  Frauenlob,  of  2,715  tons,  complement,  264  men, 
and  Wiesbaden,  not  registered;  a  number  of  destroyers,  variously 
estimated  at  from  six  to  sixteen,  and  one  submarine  rammed  and 
sunk.     Besides  these,  the  battle-cruiser  Lutzow,  of  26,600  tons,  was 


422  WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT 

reported  badly  damaged,  and  the  battle-cruiser  Seydlitz,  of  equal 
size,  suffered  heavily  in  the  battle  and  was  hotly  pursued  to  the  mine 
fields  of  Helgoland. 

The  total  loss  of  life  in  the  battle  amounted  to  approximately 
4,800  British,  including  333  officers;  and  probably  4,000  or  more 
Germans,  Rear-Admiral  Horace  Hood,  second  in  command  of  the 
battle-cruiser  fleet,  went  down  with  the  Invincible.  Rear-Admiral 
A.rbuthnot  went  down  with  the  Defense. 

STORY   OF   THE   BATTLE. 

The  great  naval  battle,  which  may  go  down  in  history  as  the 
battle  of  the  Skager  Rack,  was  fought  in  the  eastern  waters  of  the 
North  Sea,  off  the  coast  of  Denmark.  It  lasted  for  many  hours, 
fighting  being  continued  through  the  night  of  May  31-June  1.  In 
general,  the  battle  area  extended  from  the  Skager  Rack  southward 
to  Horn  Reef  off  the  Danish  coast,  the  center  of  the  fighting  being 
about  100  miles  north  of  Helgoland,  the  main  German  naval  base  in 
the  North  Sea. 

Both  in  the  number  of  lives  and  the  tonnage  lost,  the  battle  was 
the  greatest  sea-fight  in  history,  as  well  as  the  first  in  which  modern 
dreadnaughts  have  been  engaged.  Never  before  have  two  naval 
forces  of  such  magnitude  as  the  British  and  German  high-sea  fleets 
engaged  in  combat. 

The  greatest  previous  tonnage  loss  was  during  the  Japanese- 
Russian  war.  In  the  naval  battle  of  Tsushima  in  May,  1905,  the  loss 
totaled  93,000  tons.    Twenty-one  Russian  craft  were  sunk  in  this  fight. 

The  text  of  the  first  British  admiralty  statement  was  in  part  as 
follows : 

"On  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  May  31,  a  naval  engagement 
took  place  off  the  coast  of  Jutland.  The  British  ships  on  which  the 
brunt  of  the  fighting  fell  were  the  battle-cruiser  fleet  and  some  cruisers 
and  light  cruisers,  supported  by  four  fast  battleships.  Among  these 
the  losses  were  heavy. 

"The  German  battle  fleet  aided  by  low  visibility  avoided  a  pro- 
longed action  with  our  main  forces.  As  soon  as  they  appeared  on  the 
scene  the  enemy  returned  to  port,  though  not  before  recei\nng  severe 
damage  from  our  battleships." 

The  battle  was  one  in  which  no  quarter  was  asked  or  even  possible. 
There  were  no  surrenders,  and  the  ships  lost  went  down  and 
carried  with  them  virtually  the  whole  crews.  Only  the  "Warrior,  which 
was  towed  part  way  from  the  scene  of  battle  to  a  British  port,  was 
an  exception. 

Of  the  thousand  men  on  the  Queen  Mary,  only  a  corporal's  guard 
was  accounted  for.    The  same  was  true  of  the  Invincible,  while  there 


WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT  423 

were  no  survivors  reported  from  the  Indefatigable,  the  Defense  or 
the  Black  Prince. 

TELL   OF   BATTLE   HORRORS. 

After  the  battle  there  were  many  stories  of  ships  sinking  with 
a  great  explosion ;  of  crews  going  down  singing  the  national  anthem ; 
of  merchant  ships  passing  through  a  sea  thick  with  floating  bodies. 

From  survivors  came  thrilling  stories  of  the  horrors  and  humani- 
ties of  the  battle.  The  British  destroyer  Shark  acted  as  a  decoy  to 
bring  the  German  ships  into  the  engagement.  It  was  battered  to 
pieces  by  gunfire,  and  a  half  dozen  sailors,  picked  up  clinging  to  a 
buoy  by  a  Danish  ship,  told  of  its  commander  and  two  seamen  serving 
its  only  remaining  gun  until  the  last  minute,  when  the  commander's 
leg  was  blown  off. 

A  lifeboat  with  German  survivors  from  the  German  cruiser  Elbing 
rescued  Surgeon  Burton  of  the  British  destroyer  Tipperary.  He  had 
sustained  four  wounds. 

THE  FIEST  OFFICIAL   STORY. 

The  first  account  in  detail  of  the  battle  was  given  by  a  high 
official  of  the  British  Admiralty,  who  said  on  June  4 : 

"We  were  looking  for  a  fight  when  our  fleet  went  out.  Stories 
that  the  fleet  was  decoyed  by  the  Germans  are  sheerest  nonsense.  In 
a  word,  with  an  inferior  fleet  we  engaged  the  entire  German  high  sea 
fleet,  interrupted  their  plans,  and  drove  them  back  into  their  harbors. 

' '  In  carrying  out  the  plan  decided  upon  we  sustained  heavy  losses, 
which  we  expected,  but  we  also  attained  the  expected  result  of  forcing 
the  enemy  to  abandon  his  plan  and  seek  refuge  after  we  had  given 
battle  in  his  own  waters  near  his  coast. 

"With  the  exception  of  two  divisions,  part  of  which  was  only 
partly  engaged,  the  brunt  of  battle  was  borne  by  the  battle-cruiser 
fleet,  and  with  one  exception  our  battle  fleet  is  ready  for  sea  service. 
I  must  admit  that  we  had  exceptionally  hard  luck  with  our  battle- 
cruisers,  but  the  loss  of  three  great  ships  does  not  in  any  measure 
cripple  our  control  of  the  sea. 

"The  great  battle  had  four  phases.  The  first  opened  at  3 :15  p.  m., 
when  our  battle-cruisers,  at  a  range  of  six  miles,  joined  action  with 
German  battle-cruisers.  Shortly  afterward  the  second  phase  began 
with  the  arrival  on  both  sides  of  battleships,  the  Germans  arriving 
first.  But  before  their  arrival  our  three  battle-cruisers  had  been 
blown  up,  supposedly  the  result  of  gunfire,  although  possibly  they 
were  victims  of  torpedoes. 

' '  Such  close  range  fighting  with  battle-cruisers  might  be  criticized 
as  bad  tactics,  but  our  fleet,  following  the  traditions  of  the  navy,  went 


424  WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT 

out  to  engage  the  enemy,  and  on  account  of  weather  conditions  could 
do  so  only  at  short  range. 

"The  third  phase  was  the  engagement  of  battleships,  which  never 
was  more  than  partial.  This  phase  included  a  running  fight,  as  the 
German  dreadnaughts  fled  toward  their  bases.  All  the  big  ship  fight- 
ing was  over  by  9 :15  p.  m. 

ENEMY   GONE   BY   DAWN. 

'  *  Then  came  one  of  the  most  weird  features  of  the  battle,  as  Ger- 
man destroyers  made  attack  after  attack,  like  infantry  following 
artillery  preparation,  on  our  big  ships.  But  these  onslaughts  were 
futile,  not  a  single  torpedo  launched  by  them  getting  home. 

"With  the  morning  these  attacks  ended  and  the  scene  of  battle 
was  swept  by  Jellicoe  's  fleet.  Not  a  single  enemy  vessel  remained  in 
sight. 

"An  incident  of  the  great  battle  was  the  torpedoing  of  the  super- 
dreadnaught  Marlborough,  which  is  now  safely  in  harbor.  It  must 
have  struck  a  veritable  hornets'  nest  of  submarines,  as  by  skillful 
maneuvering  it  avoided  three  of  these  before  it  was  finally  hit. 

"Early  in  the  engagement,  according  to  Admiral  Beatty's  report, 
a  German  battle-cruiser,  after  being  hotly  engaged,  blew  up  and 
broke  in  two. 

"Officers  of  the  fleet  also  reported  passing  a  closely  engaged 
German  battle-cruiser  which  was  left  behind  while  the  British  pur- 
sued the  Germans.  On  their  return  this  vessel  was  missing.  Judging 
from  its  previous  plight  it  must  now  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  This 
accounts  for  two  of  the  enemy's  battle-cruisers,  and  we  have  their 
admission  that  they  had  lost  two  battleships. 

"Zeppelins  did  not  play  the  important  part  attributed  to  them. 
Only  one  appeared.  It  remained  in  action  a  brief  time,  retiring 
under  heavy  fire,  evidently  badly  damaged.  Weather  conditions  were 
such  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  aircraft  would  have  been  of 
much  service. 

' '  The  enemy  sprang  no  surprises.  We  saw  nothing  of  any  17-inch 
guns.  No  tricks  were  used  which  were  not  already  known  in  naval 
warfare. 

"From  the  standpoint  of  actual  strength  the  na\'y's  loss  in  per- 
sonnel, while  great,  was  not  serious,  as  we  have  plenty  of  men  to 
replace  them.  But  the  deaths  of  so  many  gallant  officers  and  men 
have  caused  profound  grief. 

"Admiral  Hood  went  down  with  his  flagship  Invincible,  in  the 
words  of  Admiral  Beaty's  report,  'leading  his  division  into  action 
with  the  most  inspiring  courage.*  His  flag  captain,  Cay,  went  down 
with  him.     Capt.  Sowerby,  former  British  naval  attache  at  Wash- 


WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT  425 

ington,  perished  with  his  ship,  the  Indefatigable,  while  Capt.  Prowse 
died  on  the  Queen  Mary." 

BODIES  FLOATING  IN  THE  SEA. 

From  Copenhagen  it  was  reported  on  June  3  that  hundreds  of 
bodies,  many  of  them  horribly  mutilated  by  explosions,  and  great 
quantities  of  debris  were  drifting  about  in  the  North  Sea  near  the 
scene  of  the  battle.  All  steamers  arriving  at  Danish  ports  reported 
sighting  floating  bodies  and  bits  of  wreckage. 

The  steamer  Para  picked  up  a  raft  aboard  which  were  three 
German  survivors  from  the  torpedo  boat  V-48.  They  had  clung  to 
the  raft  for  forty-eight  hours  and  were  semi-conscious  when  rescued. 
They  reported  that  ninety-nine  of  the  V-48  crew  perished  and  that 
in  all  about  twenty  German  torpedo  boats  were  destroyed. 

Other  German  sailors,  rescued  by  Scandinavian  steamers,  described 
the  Teutonic  losses  in  the  Jutland  battle  as  colossal.  A  number  of 
the  crew  of  the  cruiser  Wiesbaden  and  men  from  several  German 
torpedo  boats  were  rescued  and  brought  to  Copenhagen.  They 
reported  that  many  of  their  comrades,  after  floating  for  thirty-six 
hours  on  rafts  without  food  or  water,  drank  the  sea  water,  became 
insane  and  jumped  into  the  ocean. 

The  German  survivors  said  that  several  of  their  torpedo  boats 
and  submarines  were  capsized  by  the  British  shells  and  sank  instantly. 
Bodies  of  both  British  and  German  sailors  were  washed  ashore  on  the 
coast  of  Jutland. 

officer's  story  of  the  fight. 

Survivors  who  arrived  at  Edinburgh  on  June  5  from  British 
destroyers  which  made  a  massed  attack  on  a  German  battleship  in 
the  battle  off  Jutland,  were  convinced  that  they  sent  to  the  bottom 
the  dreadnaught  Hindenburg,  the  pride  of  the  German  navy.  These 
sailors  said  that  the  Hindenburg  was  struck  successively  by  four  tor- 
pedoes while  the  destroyers  dashed  in  alongside  of  its  hull,  tearing 
it  to  pieces  until  the  mighty  ship  reeled  and  sank. 

An  officer  from  one  of  the  British  destroyers  gave  the  following 
graphic  account  of  the  battle: 

"The  ships  of  the  grand  fleet  went  into  action  as  if  they  were 
going  into  maneuvers.  From  every  yardarm  the  white  ensign  flew, 
the  flag  which  is  to  the  sailor  as  the  tattered  colors  were  in  days  of 
old  to  a  hard-pressed  regiment.  That  it  went  hard  with  the  battle- 
cruisers  is  apparent,  but  one  ship  cannot  fight  a  dozen.  Tliey  had 
fought  a  great  fight,  a  fight  to  be  proud  of,  a  fight  which  will  live 
longer  than  many  a  victory. 

"We  fought  close  into  the  foe,  and  if  anything  is  certain  in  the 
uncertainties  of  naval  battle  it  is  that  we  gave  at  least  as  good  as  we 


426  WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT 

got.  We  passed  along  the  line  of  German  ships  some  miles  away  and 
let  off  broadside  after  broadside.  Tlie  air  was  heavy  with  masses  of 
smoke,  black,  yellow,  green  and  every  other  color,  which  drifted 
slowly  between  the  opposing  lines,  hiding  sometimes  friend  and  some- 
times foe.  The  enemy  ships  were  firing  very  fast,  but  watching  the 
ships  in  front  one  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  shooting  was 
decidedly  erratic.  Again  and  again  salvos  of  shells  fell  far  short 
of  the  mark,  to  be  followed  immediately  by  others  which  screamed 
past  high  in  the  air. 

ROAR  OF  THE  GUNS  TERRIFIC. 

"I  watched  the  Iron  Duke  swinging  through  the  seas,  letting  off 
broadside  after  broadside,  wicked  tongues  of  flames  leaping  through 
clouds  of  smoke.  The  din  of  battle  was  stunning,  stupendous,  deafen- 
ing, as  hundreds  of  the  heaviest  guns  in  the  world  roared  out  at 
once.  Great  masses  of  water  rose  in  the  air  like  waterspouts,  reaching 
as  high  as  the  masts,  as  the  salvos  of  German  shells  fell  short  or  went 
over  their  target.  Now  and  then  a  shell  found  its  mark,  but  it 
left  us  absolutely  cold  as  to  its  effect  on  each  man  at  a  time  like  this. 
A  dozen  men  may  be  knocked  out  at  one 's  side.    It  makes  no  difference. 

"It  was  impossible  to  see  what  was  happening  among  the  ships 
of  the  foe.  The  smoke  obscured  everything  so  effectually  that  one 
could  only  get  a  glimpse  at  intervals  when  a  kindly  wind  blew  a 
lane  through  the  pall.  It  was  apparent  that  the  best  ships  of  the 
enemy  were  engaged,  but  how  many  neither  eye  nor  glass  could  make 
out.  The  number  was  certainly  large.  It  was  equally  impossible  to 
see  what  damage  we  were  causing.  Only  the  high  command  knew 
the  progress  of  the  battle.  That  the  damage  inflicted  on  the  German 
ships  M^as  great  does  not  admit  of  any  doubt.  At  one  time  two 
vessels,  red  with  fire,  gleamed  through  the  smoke. 

FLAGSHIP  LOSES  ITS  WIRELESS. 

"It  is  a  curious  feeling  to  be  in  the  midst  of  a  battle  and  not  to 
know  to  which  side  fortune  leans.  "Where  only  a  few  ships  are 
engaged  it  is  different.  Our  own  losses  were  known  with  some  degree 
of  exactness,  but  even  that  was  uncertain.  Thus  at  one  time  it  was 
thought  that  the  Lion  had  been  lost  as  it  did  not  answer  any  call. 
It  transpired  that  its  wireless  had  been  destroyed. 

"With  the  dusk  came  the  great  opportunity  of  the  mosquito  craft 
and  both  sides  made  use  of  it  to  the  full.  It  was  in  this  way  that  one 
of  the  saddest  of  many  sad  incidents  occurred.  A  destroyer,  true  to 
its  name,  dashed  for  the  birg  enemy  ship.  It  soon  got  into  effective 
range  and  loosed  its  torpedo  and  with  deadly  effect  on  a  German 
battleship.     The  ship  went  down  and  the  destroyer  raced  for  safety, 


WORLD'S  GREATEST  SEA-FIGHT  427 

the  commander  and  officer  standing  on  the  bridge  indulging  in 
mutual  congratulations  at  their  success.  At  that  moment  a  shell  hit 
the  bridge  and  wiped  out  the  entire  group, 

"We  fought  what  was  in  its  way  a  great  fight,  although  it  was. 
not  a  sailor's  battle.  Both  the  grand  and  the  terrible  were  present 
to  an  almost  overpowering  degree.  As  a  spectacle  it  was  magnificent, 
awful.  How  awful,  it  was  impossible  to  realize  until  the  fever  of 
action  had  subsided,  until  the  guns  were  silent  and  the  great  ships, 
some  battered,  others  absolutely  untouched,  were  plowing  home  on 
the  placid  sea. ' ' 

MEN   THRILLED   BY   BATTLE  FEVER. 

After  describing  the  battle  itself,  the  officer  reverted  to  incidents 
preceding  it,  saying: 

"I  shall  never  forget  the  thrill  which  passed  through  the  men  on 
the  ships  of  the  grand  fleet  when  that  inspiring  message  was  received 
from  the  battle-cruiser  squadron  many  leagues  away :  *  I  am  engaged 
with  heavy  forces  of  the  enemy.'  One  looked  on  the  faces  of  his 
fellows  and  saw  that  the  effect  was  electrical.  The  great  ships  swung 
around  into  battle  order  and  the  responsive  sea  rocked  and  churned 
as  the  massive  vessels  raced  for  what  were  virtually  enemy  waters. 
As  the  grand  fleet  drew  near  the  scene  of  action  the  smoke  of  battle 
and  mutter  of  guns  came  down  on  the  winds.  The  eagerness  of  the 
men  became  almost  unbearably  intense  and  it  was  a  blessed  relief 
when  our  own  guns  gave  tongue." 

RUSSIAN  TROOPS  LAND   IN   FRANCE. 

Between  April  20  and  June  1,  a  large  flotilla  of  transports  arriv- 
ing at  Marseilles,  France,  brought  Russian  soldiers  in  large  numbers 
to  the  support  of  the  French  line.  The  transports  were  understood 
to  have  made  the  voyage  of  10,250  miles  from  Vladivostok  under 
convoy  by  the  British  navy. 

EARL  KITCHENER  KILLED   AT   SEA. 

The  British  armored  cruiser  Hampshire,  10,850  tons,  with  Earl 
Kitchener,  the  British  secretary  of  state  for  war,  and  his  staff  on 
board,  was  sunk  shortlj^  after  nightfall  on  June  5,  to  the  west  of  the 
Orkney  Islands,  either  by  a  mine  or  a  torpedo.  Heavy  seas  were 
running  and  Admiral  Jellicoe  reported  tjiat  there  were  no  survivors. 
The  crew  numbered  300  officers  and  men.  Earl  Kitchener  was  on  his 
way  to  Russia  for  a  secret  conference  with  the  military  authorities 
when  the  disaster  occurred.  His  latest  achievement  was  the  creation, 
from  England's  untrained  manhood,  of  an  army  approximating 
5,000,000  men,  of  whom  he  was  the  military  idol. 


42^  BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST 

CANADIANS  IN  BATTLE. 

After  gallantly  holding  their  own  for  many  months  against 
repeated  German  attacks,  the  Canadian  troops  holding  that  section  of 
the  western  front  southeast  of  Yprcs,  between  Hooge  and  the  Ypres- 
Menin  rtiilway,  were  engaged  during  the  week  ending  June  3,  1916,  in 
a  battle  scarcely  less  determined  in  its  nature  than  that  of  St,  Julien 
and  other  great  encounters  in  which  they  distinguished  themselves  and 
added  to  Canadian  military  laurels  earlier  in  the  war. 

On  Friday,  June  2,  the  Germans,  after  a  concentrated  bombard- 
ment with  heavy  artillery,  pressed  forward  to  the  assault  and  suc- 
ceeded in  penetrating  the  British  lines.  During  the  night  they  pushed 
their  attack  and  succeeded  in  cutting  their  way  through  the  defenses 
to  the  depth  of  nearly  a  mile  in  the  direction  of  Zillebeke.  The  hard- 
fighting  Canadians  then  rallied  and  began  counter-assaults  at  7  o'clock 
on  the  following  morning.  By  Sunday  morning,  June  4,  they  had 
succeeded  in  gradually  driving  the  Germans  from  much  of  the  ground 
they  had  gained,  but  the  losses  to  the  Canadians  were  severe. 

In  the  British  oiiicial  report  of  the  engagement,  it  was  stated  that 
"the  Canadians  behaved  with  the  utmost  gallantry,  counter-attacking 
successfully  after  a  heavy  and  continued  bombardment."  The  Ger- 
man losses  were  very  heavy  and  a  large  number  of  dead  were  aban- 
doned on  the  recaptured  ground.  Frederick  Palmer,  the  noted  war 
correspondent,  said  that  for  a  thousand  yards  in  the  center  of  the  line 
where  the  Germans  secured  lodgment  the  Canadians  fired  from  posi- 
tions in  the  rear  and  filled  the  ruined  trenches  w^ith  German  dead. 

It  was  announced  by  the  "War  Office  that  Generals  Mercer  and 
"Williams,  who  were  inspecting  the  front  trenches  on  June  2,  during 
the  Gcniian  bombardment,  were  among  the  missing.  Soon  after  it  was 
found  that  General  Mercer  was  severely  wounded  during  the  fight,  and 
was  taken  to  hospital  at  Boulogne,  while  General  "Williams,  who  was 
wounded  less  severely,  was  captured  b}'  the  enemy.  General  Mercer 
was  the  commander  of  the  Third  Division  of  Canadian  troops,  which 
in  this  action  had  its  first  real  test  in  hand-to-hand  fighting,  and  came 
out  of  the  trial  like  veterans  with  glory  undimmed. 

The  two-days'  fighting  occurred  around  the  famous  Hill  No.  60 
and  Sanctuary  Wood,  names  destined  to  live  in  Canadian  history.  It 
was  entirely  a  Canadian  battle,  and  while  the  losses  of  the  devoted 
troops  from  tlic  Dominion  probably  reached  the  regrettable  total  of 
over  6,000,  including  a  number  of  men  captured  by  the  Germans  during 
the  first  day's  attack,  when  they  overran  the  front  trenches,  they  dog- 
gedly bombed  and  bayoneted  their  way  back  to  the  wrecked  trenches 
next  day  and  regained  nearly  all  their  front.  The  commanding  officers 
were  especially  pleased  that  the  newer  Canadian  battalions  had  kept 
up  the  traditions  of  the  first  contingent,  established  in  1915  at  St. 


BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST  429 

Julien  and  elsewhere  in  France  and  Flanders,  by  immediately  turn- 
ing upon  the  Germans  with  a  counter-attack  which  was  carried  out  both 
coolly  and  skilfully. 

The  Ypres  salient,  thus  successfully  defended  by  the  Canadians  in 
one  of  the  hottest  of  the  minor  battles  of  the  war,  was  regarded  by 
the  British  commander-in-chief  as  an  important  position  which  must 
be  defended  despite  the  heavy  losses.  General  Gwatkin,  Chief  of  Staff 
for  Canada,  stated  that  the  German  losses  during  the  heavy  fighting 
exceeded  those  of  the  Canadians. 

Colonel  Buller  of  the  Princess  Patricia  Regiment  was  killed  by 
shrapnel  while  leading  his  men  at  Sanctuary  Wood. 

The  total  enlistments  in  Canada  up  to  June  10  exceeded  333,000 
men. 

GREAT  DRIVE  BY  THE  RUSSIANS. 

The  first  week  of  June,  1916,  saw  the  Russians  successful  in  a  great 
drive  against  the  Austrian  positions  in  Volhynia  and  Galicia,  a  move- 
ment that  for  awhile  overshadowed  the  events  on  the  western  front. 
In  the  space  of  five  days  a  new  Russian  commander.  General  Brusiloff, 
who  had  succeeded  General  Ivanhoff  as  Chief  of  the  Russian  South- 
western Armies,  captured  1,143  Austrian  officers  and  64,714  men, 
recovered  almost  four  thousand  square  miles  of  fertile  Volhynian  soil, 
and  recaptured  the  fortified  town  of  Lutsk.  He  had  the  advantage  of 
a  most  efficient  artillery  preparation,  which  blew  the  Austrian  entan- 
glements, trenches  and  earthworks  into  such  a  chaos  that  the  bewil- 
dered occupants  surrendered  in  thousands  when  the  Russian  infantry 
charged. 

German  reinforcements  from  the  trenches  north  of  the  Pripet  River 
tried  to  stay  the  Russian  rush,  but  in  vain,  and  many  Germans  were 
among  the  prisoners  taken.  At  several  points  the  Russian  cavalry 
led  the  attack  after  the  artillery  had  done  its  work.  A  division  of 
3''0ung  Russians,  by  an  impetuous  attack,  captured  a  bridge-head  on  , 
the  Styr  and  took  2,500  German  and  Austrian  troops  and  much  rich  ' 
booty.  In  Galicia  the  Russian  armies  crossed  the  Stripa  and  by 
June  10  were  once  more  too  near  Lemberg  for  the  comfort  of  the 
Austrian  garrison.  At  that  time  the  total  number  of  prisoners  taken 
in  this  drive  was  considerably  over  100,000,  while  the  booty  in  guns, 
rifles,  ammunition  and  supplies  of  all  conceivable  kinds  was  enormous. 
The  Allies  were  greatly  heartened  by  these  Russian  successes  on  the 
eastern  front,  and  on  June  15  Germany  was  preparing  to  meet  them 
by  troop  movements  from  the  north,  where  Field  Marshal  von  Hinden- 
burgh  was  in  command  on  Russian  territory.  The  extent  and  rapidity 
of  the  Russian  successes  up  to  that  time  were  without  parallel  in 
military  history. 


430        BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST 

RUSSIA  COMPELS  AUSTRIAN  RETREAT 

During  the  following  month  the  Russian  advance  toward  the 
Carpathians,  for  the  second  time  in  the  war,  continued  steadily.  It 
Avas  apparent  that  General  Brusilolf,  unlike  his  predecessors  in  com- 
mand, was  well  supplied  with  effective  artillery  and  ammunition  in 
plenty,  and  that  the  vast  resources  of  the  Russian  Empire  had  been 
at  last  successfully  mobilized  for  attack.  Guns  and  ammunition,  in 
immense  quantities,  had  been  secured  from  Japan,  among  other 
sources,  and  this  former  enemy  of  Russia,  now  her  strong  and  capable 
ally,  aided  materially  in  changing  the  aspect  of  affairs  on  the  Eastern 
battle  front. 

On  June  16,  the  Russian  offensive  had  progressed  to  the  Galician 
frontier,  and  terrific  fighting  marked  the  advance  along  the  whole 
line  south  of  Volhynia,  Two  German  armies  went  to  the  aid  of  the 
Austrians  in  the  region  of  the  Stochod  and  Styr  rivers,  and  German 
forces  also  made  a  stand  before  Kovel.  The  mortality  on  both  sides 
was  described  as  frightful,  but  the  Russians  continued  to  make  head- 
way and  the  capture  of  thousands  of  Teutonic  prisoners  was  of  almost 
daily  occurrence,  the  total  reaching  172,000  before  June  18. 

Czernowitz,  the  capital  of  Bukowina,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Russians  at  midnight  of  June  17,  after  the  bridgehead  on  the  Pruth 
river  had  been  stormed  by  the  victorious  troops  of  the  Czar.  One 
thousand  Austrians  were  captured  at  the  bridgehead,  but  the  gar- 
rison succeeded  in  escaping.  The  invading  troops  swept  on,  crossed 
the  Seretli  river,  and  soon  gained  control  of  about  one-half  of  Rou- 
mania's  western  frontier.  By  July  23  the  Austrians  were  retreating 
into  the  foothills  of  the  Carpathian  moimtains,  hotly  pressed  by  the 
Russian  advance.  The  German  army  around  Kovel  continued  to 
make  a  stubborn  resistance,  but  could  not  prevent  the  Austrian  rout, 
and  as  the  Russians  approached  the  Carpathian  passes  the  Austrian 
prisoners  taken  by  them  during  the  drive  reached  a  total  of  200,000 
officers  and  men.  Immense  quantities  of  munitions  of  war  also  fell 
into  their  hands. 

On  July  4  Russian  cavalry  patrols  advanced  over  the  passes  into 
southern  Hungary,  and  General  Brusiloff's  army  neared  Lemberg, 
which  was  defended  by  a  combined  Teutonic  army  under  General  von 
Bothmer,  along  the  River  Strypa.  The  losses  of  the  Austrians  and 
Germans,  in  killed  and  woimded  up  to  this  time,  were  placed  at 
500,000  men,  the  Russian  offensive  having  lasted  one  month,  with  no 
evidence  of  slackening.  General  von  Bothmer  then  began  a  retirement 
westward,  while  General  Brusiloff  advanced  between  the  Pruth  and 
Dniester  rivers,  and  a  concerted  push  toward  Lemberg  was  begun. 


BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST  431 

**BIG  PUSH"  ON  ffHE  WESTERN  FRONT 

After  many  months  of  preparation  by  the  British,  during  which 
"Kitchener's  army"  was  being  sedulously  trained  for  active  service, 
a  new  phase  of  the  great  war  began  on  July  1,  1916,  when  a  great 
offensive  was  started  on  the  western  front  by  the  British  and  French 
simultaneously,  after  a  seven-day  bombardment  of  the  German 
trenches.  In  this  preliminary  bombardment  more  than  one  million 
shells  were  fired  daily,  and  the  prolonged  battle  which  ensued  was 
the  greatest  of  all  time. 

Tiiis  offensive  proved  that  the  Allies  had  not  been  shaken  from 
their  determination  to  bide  their  time  until  they  were  thoroughly  pre- 
pared and  ready  for  the  attack,  and  were  able  to  co-ordinate  their 
efforts  in  genuine  teamwork  against  the*  powerful  and  strongly- 
entrenched  enemy  in  the  west,  while  the  Russian  offensive  on  the 
eastern  front  was  also  in  progress.  This  long-awaited  movement  was 
no  isolated  attack,  costly  but  ineffectual,  like  those  of  the  English  at 
Neuve  Chapelle  and  Loos,  but  *'a  carefully  studied  and  deliberately 
prepared  campaign  of  severe  pressure  upon  Germany  at  each  of  her 
battle  fronts.''  It  proved  that  the  war-councils  of  the  Allies  held  in 
Paris  and  London,  in  Petrograd  and  Rome,  were  no  mere  conven- 
tional affairs,  but  were  at  last  to  bear  fruit  in  concerted  action  that 
might  decide  the  issue  of  the  war. 

The  ''big  push,"  as  it  was  popularly  called  in  England,  was 
started  by  the  British  and  French  on  both  sides  of  the  River  Somme, 
sixty  miles  north  of  Paris,  at  7  :30  o  'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  1, 
and  resulted  on  the  same  day  in  a  grea.t  wedge  being  driven  into  the 
German  lines  along  a  front  of  twenty-five  miles,  with  its  sharp  point 
penetrating  nearly  five  miles.  The  French  advance  was  made  in  the 
direction  of  Peronne,  an  important  center  of  transportation  and  dis- 
tribution long  held  by  the  Germans. 

An  eyewitness  who  watched  the  beginning  of  the  battle  from  a 
hill  said  that  overwhelming  as  was  the  power  of  the  guns,  yet  as  the 
gathering  of  human  and  mechanical  material  proceeded,  "the  grim 
and  significant  spectacle  was  the  sight  of  detachments  of  infantry 
moving  forward  in  field-fighting  equipment,  until  finally  the  dugouts 
were  hives  of  khaki  ready  to  swarm  out  for  battle." 

As  the  days  of  the  bombardment  passecj,  the  air  of  expectancy  was 
noticeable  everywhere  through  the  British  army,  commanded  by  Sir 
Douglas  Haig.  Finally  the  word  was  passed  that  the  infantry  was 
to  make  the  assault  early  the  next  morning.  Then,  "at  7  :20  A.  M. 
the  rapid-fire  trench  mortars  added  their  shells  to  the  deluge  pouring 
upon  the  first-line  German  trenches.  After  ten  minutes  of  this, 
promptly  at  7:30  o'clock,  the  guns  lifted  their  fire  to  the  second  line 


432       BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST 

of  German  trenches,  as  if  they  were  answering  to  the  pressure  of  a 
single  electric  button,  and  the  men  of  the  new  British  army  leaped 
over  their  parapets  and  rushed  toward  the  wreckage  the  guns  and 
mortars  had  wrought.  Even  close  at  hand,  they  were  visible  for  only 
a  moment  before  being  hidden  by  the  smoke  of  the  German  shell- 
curtain  over  what  remained  of  the  trenches." 

Of  the  deadly  work  beneath  that  pall  of  smoke,  as  steel  met  steel 
and  the  new  soldiers  of  Britain  fleshed  their  bayonets  for  the  first 
time,  and  fell  by  the  thousand  under  the  murderous  fire  of  machine- 
guns,  history  will  tell  the  tale  long  after  the  survivors  have  ceased  to 
recount  the  deeds  of  the  day  to  their  grandchildren  wherever  the 
English  tongue  is  spoken.  Each  side  gives  credit  to  the  other  for  the 
utmost  bravery  and  devotion  during  the  battle.  The  new  English 
regiments  fought  like  veterans,  and  fully  maintained  the  traditions 
of  the  British  army  for  dogged  bravery,  while  the  Germans  fought 
with  desperate  tenacity,  valor  and  resourcefulness,  this  last  quality 
being  displayed  in  the  devices  which  had  been  invented  and  were 
used  to  prevent  or  delay  the  Allied  advance.  It  was  indeed  wonderful 
how  well  the  Germans  had  protected  their  machine-guns  from  the 
devastating  effects  of  the  preliminary  bombardment,  which  tore 
trenches  to  pieces  and  utterly  demolished  barbed-wire  entanglements, 
but  failed  in  many  cases  to  destroy  the  deep  bomb-proofs  in  which 
the  Teuton  machine-guns  were  protected  and  concealed. 

CONTINUATION  OP  THE  GREAT  BATTLE 

On  July  2  and  3,  the  battle  of  the  Somme  continued  without 
cessation  of  infantry  fighting,  while  the  big  guns  thundered  on  both 
sides.  The  British  offensive  took  Fricourt  on  the  2nd,  after  a  tre- 
mendous bombardment,  and  occupied  several  villages,  while  the 
French  advanced  to  within  three  miles  of  Peronne.  Ten  thousand 
more  prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Allies  on  these  two  days. 
On  the  4th,  German  resistance  temporarily  halted  the  British,  but 
the  French  offensive  took  German  second-line  positions  south  of  the 
Somme  on  a  six-mile  front.  Violent  counter-attacks  by  the  Germans 
on  July  6  failed  to  wrest  from  the  French  the  gi'ound  won  by  them 
during  the  previous  five  days,  and  the  Allied  troops  resumed  their 
advance,  taking  the  Geaman  second-line  trenches  all  along  the  front 
in  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire.  Next  day  Contalmaison  was  won  by  the 
British,  but  recaptured  by  the  Prussian  Guard,  who  held  the  town 
for  three  days,  when  they  were  again  driven  out. 

A  desperate  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  Mametz  woods 
marked  the  fighting  from  the  10th  to  the  12th,  the  British  and  the 
Germans  alternating  in  its  possession.  Victory  at  this  point  finally 
lay  with  the  British,  who  on  July  12  gained  possession  of  the  whole 


BATTLES  EAST,  AND  WEST  43a 

locality,  together  with  the  Trones  wood,  which  had  also  been  the 
scene  of  a  bloody  struggle.  By  this  time  some  30,000  German  pris- 
oners had  been  taken  by  the  Allies  during  the  offensive,  while  the 
losses  in  killed  and  wounded  on  both  sides,  in  the  absence  of  official 
reports,  could  only  be  estimated  in  appalling  numbers, 

TRAGIC  TALE  OF  A  GERMAN  PRISONER 

A  typical  description  of  some  of  the  horrors  of  the  battle,  as  it 
surged  around  Contalmaison,  was  given  by  a  German  prisoner  on 
July  12  to  the  war  correspondent  of  the  London  Chronicle.  He  spoke 
English,  having  been  employed  in  London  for  some  years  prior  to 
the  war.  "With  his  regiment,  the  122nd  Bavarians,  he  went  into  Con- 
talmaison five  days  before  his  capture.  Soon  the  rations  they  took 
with  them  were  exhausted,  and  owing  to  the  ceaseless  gunfire  they 
were  unable  to  get  fresh  supplies.  They  suffered  agonies  of  thirst 
and  the  numbers  of  their  dead  and  wounded  increased  day  after  day. 

"There  was  a  hole  in  the  ground,"  said  the  German  prisoner, 
whose  head  was  bound  with  a  bloody  bandage  and  who  was  still  dazed 
and  troubled  when  the  correspondent  talked  with  him.  *'It  was  a 
dark  hole  which  held  twenty  men,  all  lying  in  a  heap  together,  and 
that  was  the  only  dugout  for  my  company,  so  there  was  not  room  for 
more  than  a  few.  It  was  necessary  to  take  turns  in  this  shelter  while 
outside  the  English  shells  were  coming  and  bursting  eyerywheve.  Two 
or  three  men  were  dragged  out  to  make  room  for  two  or  three  others^ 
then  those  who  went  outside  were  killed  or  wounded. 

"There  was  only  one  doctor,  an  unter  officer," — ^he  pointed  to 
a  man  who  lay  asleep  on  the  ground  face  downward — ^"and  he  ban- 
daged some  of  "US  till  he  had  no  more  bandages ;  then  last  night  we 
knew  the  end  was  coming.  Your  guns  began  to  fire  altogether,  the 
dreadful  trommelfeuer,  as  we  call  it,  and  the  shells  burst  and  smashed 
up  the  earth  about  us.  "We  stayed  down  in  the  hole,  waiting  for  the 
end.  Then  we  heard  your  soldiers  shouting.  Presently  two  of  them 
came  down  into  our  hole.  They  were  two  boys  and  had  their  pockets 
full  of  bombs ;  they  had  bombs  in  their  hands  also,  and  they  seemed 
to  wonder  whether  they  should  kill  us,  but  we  were  all  wounded — • 
nearly  all — and  we  cried  'Kamerade'!  and  now  we  are  prisoners," 

Other  prisoners  said  in  effect  that  the  fire  was  terrible  in  Contal- 
maison and  at  least  half  their  men  holding  it  were  killed  or  wounded, 
so  that  when  the  British  entered  they  walked  over  the  bodies  of  the 
dead.  The  men  who  escaped  were  in  a  pitiful  condition.  * '  They  lay 
on  the  ground  utterly  exhausted,  most  of  them,  and,  what  was  strange, 
with  their  faces  to  the  earth.  Perhaps  it  was  to  blot  out  the  vision  of 
the  things  they  had  seen." 

Meanwhile,    despite   the   threatening   character   of   the    Allied 


431       BATTLES  EAST  AND  WEST 

offensive  on  the  Somme,  German  assaults  on  the  Verdun  front  con- 
tinued unabated  during  July,  and  there  was  little  evidence  of  the 
withdrawal  of  German  troops  from  that  point  to  reinforce  the  army- 
opposed  to  the  British.  But  except  at  Verdun,  Germany  was  at  bay 
everywhere,  and  the  situation  was  recognized  in  the  Fatherland  as 
serious.  Never  before  had  the  Allies  been  able  to  drive  at  Germany 
from  all  sides  at  once.  Only  at  Verdun  the  German  Crown  Prince, 
long  halted  at  that  point,  was  keeping  up  a  slow  but  strong  offensive 
pressure. 

GERMAN  SUBMARINE  REACHES  BALTIMORE 

On  July  9,  the  German  merchant  submarine  Deutschland,  in  com- 
mand of  Capt.  Koenig,  slipped  into  port  at  Baltimore,  after  eluding 
British  warships  in  the  North  Sea,  English  Channel,  and  Atlantic. 
The  Deutschland  carried  as  cargo  nearly  a  million  dollars'  worth  of 
dyestiiffs,  as  well  as  important  mail.  The  owners  announced  that  she 
was  the  first  of  a  regular  fleet  to  be  placed  in  service  between  German 
and  American  ports,  to  thwart  the  British  blockade.  She  made  the 
4,000-mile  voyage  in  sixteen  days,  including  nine  hours  during  which, 
according  to  her  captain,  she  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  Channel  to 
escape  capture.  On  July  25  she  was  preparing  for  her  return  voyage 
with  a  cargo  said  to  consist  largely  of  crude  rubber  and  nickel,  having 
been  accepted  by  the  United  States  Government  as  an  innocent 
merchantman  and  granted  clearance  papers  on  that  basis.  Outside 
the  Virginia  capes,  beyond  the  three-mile  limit,  British  and  French 
■cruisers  awaited  her  possible  appearance,  with  the  hope  of  effecting 
lier  capture.  But  it  was  announced  in  Germany  that  the  Deutschland 
reached  her  home  port  safely  Aug.  23. 

CANADIANS  STRENGTHEN  THEIR  FRONTS 

Along  the  portion  of  the  western  battle  front  held  ISy  Canadian 
troops,  there  were  frequent  heavy  bombardments  by  the  enemy  during 
the  month  of  July,  but  the  gallant  soldiers  of  the  Dominion  consoli- 
dated their  positions  won  in  battle  at  Loos  and  elsewhere,  and  fully 
held  their  own.  In  trench  mortar  fighting  their  batteries  maintained 
the  upper  hand,  often  returning  six  shells  for  one  thrown  by  the 
Germans.  The  Canadian  patrols  were  very  active ;  every  night  recon- 
naissances were  made  all  along  the  Canadian  front,  and  numerous 
hostile  working  parties  engaged  in  strengthening  German  trenches 
and  entanglements  were  dispersed  by  Canadian  rifle  fire. 

On  July  8,  in  the  gardens  of  Kensington  Palace,  London,  Princess 
Louise,  Duchess  of  Argyll,  presented  to  General  Steele,  for  the 
Canadian  forces,  a  silken  Union  Jack  and  a  silver  shield,  given  by 
the  women  and  children  of  the  British  Isles  in  acknowledgment  of 
Canada's  good  will  and  valuable  co-operation.     The  Princess  mad« 


BATTLES  EAST  AND    WEST  435 

&  short  address  expressing  high  admiration  and  enthusiastic  apprecia- 
tion of  the  eager  readiness  with  which  the  officers  and  men  of  Canada 
had  come  forward  to  take  their  share  in  the  cause  of  the  Empire. 
General  Steele,  in  receiving  the  gifts,  returned  thanks  on  behalf  of 
the  Canadian  troops. 

NEW  RUSSIAN  DRIVE  NEAR  RIGA 

On  July  24,  General  Kuropatkin  began  a  new  Russian  drive  in 
the  battle  sector  south  of  Riga.  After  making  a  preliminary  breach 
in  the  German  lines,  Kuropatkin  drove  in  a  wedge  of  fresh  troops 
which  swept  Marshal  von  Hindenburg's  German  forces  back  along  a 
front  of  30  miles,  and  to  a  depth  at  one  point  of  12  miles.  The  attack 
waa  preceded  by  a  bombardment  lasting  four  days,  which  battered 
into  ruins  the  German  defense  along  the  coast  line  from  the  Gulf  of 
Riga  to  UxhuU.  The  Kaiser  and  his  chief  of  staff  recognized  the 
importance  of  General  Kuropatkin 's  advance  by  hastening  to  the 
Eastern  battle  front  on  July  25, 

TWO  tears'  war  CASUALTIES 

Killed.  Wounded.  Missing.  Total. 

Russia 1,200,000  2,500,000  2,000,000  5,700,000 

Germany    900,000  1,900,000  150,000  2,950,000 

France   850,000  1,500,000  325,000  2,675,000 

Austro-Hungary 475,000  1,000,000  900,000  2,375,000 

Great  Britain 160,000  450,000  70,000         680,000 

Turkey 75,000  200,000  75,000         350,000 

•Serbia 60,000  125,000  75,000         260,000 

Italy  50,000  100,000  30,000         180,000 

Belgium 30,000  70.000  50,000         150,000 

Bulgaria 5,000  25,000  5,000           35,000 

Total 3,805,000      7,870;1300      3,680,000    15,355,000 

(For  final  lists  of  casualties  see  War  Supplement  to  this  book.) 

The  second  phase  of  the  great  Anglo-French  offensive  on  the 
western  front  began  to  develop  late  in  July,  and  attacks  were  con- 
tinuous throughout  the  month  of  August  and  up  to  September  15.  At 
every  point  in  the  Somme  region  the  giant  British  and  French  guns 
poured  shell  into  the  German  works,  destroying  barbed  wire  entangle- 
ments and  wrecking  trenches,  while  Allied  gains  were  reported  almost 
daily,  as  the  Germans  were  slowly  but  surely  ousted  from  their  original 
positions  along  a  wide  front. 

An  engagement  typical  of  the  prolonged  fighting  on  the  Somme 
occurred  near  Armentieres,  where  the  Australians  on  a  two-mile  front 


436      BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST 

made  the  greatest  trench  raid  ever  undertaken  in  any  war,  inflicting 
heavy  damage  upon  the  enemy  by  bombing  and  hand-to-hand  fighting. 
The  German  position  at  Longueval  passed  into  British  control  on 
July  28,  after  what  was  called  the  most  terrific  fighting  of  the  war, 
in  Delville  Wood. 

Between  August  6  and  September  10  the  British  under  Gen.  Sir 
Douglas  Haig  and  the  French  under  Gen.  Foch  fought  off  many 
determined  German  counter-attacks  in  the  Somme  sector,  and  con- 
tinued their  advance,  the  French  gaining  Maurepas  and  the  British 
moving  closer  to  Guillemont  and  Ginchy,  driving  the  Germans  back 
along  eleven  miles  of  front  and  capturing  Thiepval  Ridge  and  other 
important  positions  near  Pozieres. 

On  September  9  German  official  reports  admitted  considerable 
losses  on  the  western  line,  both  in  the  section  south  of  the  Somme  and 
to  the  northeast  of  Verdun.  Fierce  attacks  by  the  Germans  at  Verdun 
had  been  renewed  during  August,  but  the  French,  under  the  able 
command  of  Gen.  Nivelle,  more  than  held  their  own,  recapturing  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  terrain  occupied  by  the  enemy,  including 
Fleury  and  the  important  Thiaumont  Work. 

ITALIANS  CAPTURE  GORITZ. 

The  greatest  blow  which  the  Italian  army  had  struck  against 
Austria  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  was  completed  on  August  9, 
when  Italian  troops  captured  the  fortified  city  of  Goritz,  for  which 
they  had  been  struggling  for  months.  The  number  of  prisoners  taken 
by  the  Italians  was  21,750,  and  in  the  next  few  days  nearly  20,000 
more  fell  into  their  hands,  with  great  stores  of  war  munitions  and 
many  guns. 

The  taking  of  Goritz,  one  of  the  strongest  fortresses  in  Europe, 
compelled  the  retirement  of  the  Austrians  at  other  points  along  the 
Isonzo  River,  and  opened  the  road  for  the  Italians,  under  Gen. 
Cadorna,  to  strike  at  the  coveted  city  of  Trieste,  twenty-two  miles  to 
the  southeast.  With  the  capture  of  the  "kej^stone"  at  Goritz,  the 
Italian  commander  confidently  expected  the  resistance  of  the  Austrians 
to  weaken  and  looked  forward  to  the  early  occupation  of  the  coveted 
provinces  of  the  Trentino. 

ITALY  AT  WAR  WITH  GERMANY 

On  August  27,  Italy  declared  war  on  Germany,  giving  as  a  reason 
the  fact  that  Germany  had  sent  both  land  and  sea  forces  to  the  aid  of 
Austria.  The  declaration  became  inevitable  w-  en  Italy  sent  troops 
to  Saloniki  to  co-operate  in  the  cainpaign  of  t:  3  Entente  Allies  on 
the  Macedonian  front.     For  more  than  a  year   .taly's  position  with 


BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST  437 

regard  to  Germany  had  been  an  anomalous  one,  for  although  she 
withdrew  from  the  Triple  Alliance  on  May  25,  1915,  and  declared 
war  against  Austria,  she  remained  officially  at  peace  with  Germany 
until  August  27,  1916. 

RUMANIxi   ENTERS    THE   WAR 

After  many  months  of  hesitation,  Rumania  finally  decided  to  enter 
the  war  on  the  side  of  the  Allies  and  declared  war  on  Austria,  August 
27.  The  next  day  Germany  declared  war  on  Rumania,  and  the  issue 
was  squarely  joined  in  the  Balkans,  which  then  became  the  scene  of  a 
mighty  struggle  for  the  possession  of  Germany's  road  to  Constantinople 
and  the  East.  Tremendous  activity  at  once  began  on  the  Balkan 
front,  with  Rumania's  endeavor  to  aid  Russia  in  cutting  off  Bulgaria 
and  Turkey  from  the  Central  Powers.  In  the  event  of  the  success  of 
this  move,  it  was  expected  that  the  Allies  would  start  a  gigantic  drive 
toward  Constantinople. 

The  most  important  gain  for  either  side  in  the  Balkans  up  to  the 
middle  of  September  was  the  capture  by  the  Bulgarians  and  Germans, 
on  September  7,  of  the  great  fortress  of  Turtukai,  fifty  miles  to  the 
southeast  of  Bucharest,  the  Rumanian  capital,  and  chief  defense  of  the 
capital  on  that  side.  Russian  troops  were  rushed  to  the  aid  of  the 
Rumanians,  and  the  loss  of  Turtukai  was  offset  by  Rumanian  successes 
across  the  Hungarian  border,  where  they  captured  a  number  of  towns, 
driving  the  Austrian  defenders  before  them  as  their  invasion  of 
Hungary  progressed. 

RUSSIAN  ARMIES  ACTIVl! 

By  September  10,  Russian  troops  were  massed  in  great  force  in 
southeastern  Rumania,  and  engaged  the  Bulgarians  on  the  whole 
seventy-mile  front  from  the  Danube  to  the  Black  Sea,  fighting  fiercely 
to  wrest  the  offensive  from  the  enemy  invading  Rumania.  In  Transyl- 
vania the  Rumanians  were  advancing  rapidly,  having  captured  the 
important  town  of  Orsova,  on  the  Danube,  which  gave  them  a  grip  on 
the  Austrian  second  line  of  defense  behind  the  mountains  dividing 
Transylvania  from  Hungary.  The  entrance  of  Rumania  into  the  war 
had  increased  the  Austro-Hungarian  front  by  about  380  miles,  which 
military  men  regarded  as  altogether  too  long  for  the  Teutonic  armies 
to  hold  with  any  hope  of  success. 

The  Russians  were  also  on  September  10  winning  ground  in  their 
campaign  against  Lemberg,  the  capital  of  Galicia.  They  had  advanced 
until  they  were  within  artillery  range  of  Halicz,  an  important  railway 
junction  sixty  miles  south  of  Lemberg.  They  had  cut  the  railway 
line  between  Lemberg  and  Halicz,  and  the  latter  town  was  in  flames. 


438      BATTLES  EAST  AND    WEST 

ALLIED  PROGRESS  ON  THE  WESTERN  FRONT 

British  and  French  successes  on  the  "Western  front  continued  dur- 
ing the  month  of  September,  and  the  gains  were  encouraging  to  the 
Allies.  On  September  15  the  British  took  Flers,  Martinpuich,  the 
important  position  known  as  the  High  Wood,  Courcelette,  and  almost 
all  of  the  Bouleaux  Wood,  and  also  stormed  tlie  German  positions 
from  Combles  north  to  the  Pozieres-Bapaume  road,  arriving  within 
four  miles  of  Bapaurae  and  capturing  2,300  prisoners.  A  prominent 
feature  of  the  attack  was  the  use  by  the  British  of  armored  automo- 
bile trucks  of  unusual  size  and  power,  so  constructed  that  they  were 
able  to  cross  trenches  and  shell-holes.  These  ''tanks,''  as  thev  were 
called,  proved  a  genuine  surprise  to  the  enemy.  They  were  said  to 
be  developed  from  American  tractors  of  the  "caterpillar"  variety, 
which  lay  their  own  tracks  as  they  proceed. 

A  two-mile  trench  system,  believed  to  be  impregnable,  was  stormed 
by  the  Allied  forces  near  Thiepval  September  17,  while  south  of  the 
Somme  the  French  took  the  German  trenches  along  a  front  of  three 
miles.  Next  day  more  ground  was  taken  in  the  advance  toward 
Bapaume  and  German  prisoners  continued  to  fall  into  the  Allies* 
hands.  The  number  of  Teuton  captives  taken  during  the  Somme 
fighting  from  July  1  to  September  22  was  placed  at  55,800  men  and 
officers. 

The  month  of  September  was  remarkable  for  the  great  number 
of  aerial  combats  on  the  western  front  and  the  efficiency  developed 
in  this  mode  of  fighting.  Many  airplanes  were  shot  down  on  both 
sides,  but  the  Allies  seemed  to  be  gaining  the  mastery  of  the  air.  On 
a  single  day,  September  24,  over  a  hundred  air  combats  were  re- 
ported, during  which  fifty-seven  airplanes  were  destroyed.  On  the 
same  day  two  French  airmen,  in  flights  of  500  miles,  dropped  bombs 
on  the  Krupp  works  at  Essen  in  Germany. 

In  a  forward  sweep  near  the  end  of  the  month  the  British  took  a 
number  of  German  positions  northeast  of  Combles,  while  the  French 
advanced  south  of  that  point,  so  that  the  two  armies  almost  surround- 
ing it  were  scarcely  a  mile  apart.  A  day  later  British  and  French 
troops  entered  Combles  from  opposite  sides  and  drove  tlie  Germans 
out.  Continuing  the  drive  from  Thiepval,  which  had  also  been  occu- 
pied, the  British  consolidated  their  positions  and  straightened  their 
line  a  short  distance  from  Bapaume,  their  objective  point  at  this 
time.  More  than  5,000  German  prisoners  were  taken  September  26 
and  27. 

More  Allied  gains  in  the  Somme  sector  were  reported  in  the  first 
week  of  October,     German  counter-attacks  were  frequent,  but  lacked 


BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST  439 

the  vigor  and  success  of  former  efforts  on  this  front.  In  a  joint  at- 
tack on  October  7  the  village  of  Le  Sars  was  taken  and  the  Allies 
found  themselves  within  two  miles  of  Bapaume.  General  Foch  with 
his  French  infantry  took  a  number  of  German  positions  near  Ablain- 
court,  south  of  the  Somme,  October  14,  and  held  his  gains  against 
repeated  German  attacks.  The  fighting  was  extremely  desperate  and 
of  a  hand-to-hand  charsscter.  Gas  and  liquid  fire  were  used  by  the 
Germans,  but  the  new  Allied  lines  were  firmly  held.  Liquid  fire  was 
also  used  against  the  British  at  Thiepval,  but  without  success. 

The  Allied  attacks  on  the  Somme  from  October  9  to  October  13 
were  reckoned  in  Berlin  dispatches  as  amongst  the  greatest  actions 
of  the  entire  Somme  battle,  the  enemy  believing  that  the  Allies  them- 
selves then  attempted  to  reach  a  decision  by  breaking  through  the 
German  lines  on  the  largest  possible  scale.  The  losses  on  both  sides 
during  this  period  were  admittedly  very  heavy. 

On  October  18  the  town  of  Sailly-Saillisel  fell  to  the  French  after 
hard  fighting  and  commanding  ridges  on  either  side  of  it  were  also 
captured.  Fresh  progress  brought  the  French  troops  to  the  outskirts 
of  Peroime  next  day,  and  on  the  21st  the  British  advanced  their 
lines  along  a  front  of  three  miles,  capturing  the  Stuff  and  Regina  re- 
doubts and  trenches  and  taking  more  than  1,000  prisoners,  besides 
bringing  down,  seventeen  enemy  airplanes. 

Captain  Boelke,  Germany's  greatest  airman,  was  killed  October 
28  in  a  collision  with  another  airplane  during  a  battle  on  the  western 
front.  He  was  25  years  of  age,  had  been  wounded  several  times  during 
the  war,  and  is  credited  with  having  brought  down  forty  Allied  air- 
planes. 

The  October  losses  of  the  British  in  the  Somme  campaign  were 
announced  by  the  War  Office  to  be  107,033,  bringing  the  British  total 
from  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  to  414,202  men  and  officers,  killed, 
wounded  and  missing. 

In  the  first  days  of  November  the  principal  activity  was  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sailly,  The  Germans  effected  a  successful  counter-attack 
on  November  6,  recapturing  some  of  the  ground  won  by  the  Allies, 
with  400  prisoners,  300  of  them  French.  Next  day,  however,  a  greater 
number  of  German  prisoners  was  taken  by  the  French  in  an  advance 
along  a  two-and-a-half -mile  front  south  of  the  Somme,  and  on  the 
9th  the  French  strengthened  their  positions  near  Sailly,  clearing  out 
German  trenches  and  taking  more  prisoners. 

On  November  13  the  British  took  a  five-mile  front  in  the  German 
line  near  the  Eiver  Ancre,  capturing  two  towns  and  3,000  prisoners, 
the  Germans  being  taken  by  surprise  in  the  early  morning  mist. 


440      BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST 

Continuing  their  advantage  the  following  day,  the  British  took  Beau- 
court-sur-Anere  with  more  than  5,000  prisoners.  On  the  15th  Ger- 
man troops  took  the  offensive  on  both  sides  oi  the  Somme  and  suc- 
ceeded in  forcing  their  way  back  into  some  of  the  trenches  and  ad- 
vance positions  held  by  the  French,  but  the  British  continued  their  ad- 
vance north  of  the  Ancre.  Next  day  the  French  recovered  the  lost 
ground  and  their  airmen  engaged  in  fifty-four  air  battles  with  Ger- 
man machines  along  the  Somme  front.  On  the  18th  British  and  French 
airplanes  again  bombarded  Ostend,  dropping  180  bombs,  and  once 
more  raided  Zeebrugge.  In  an  ensuing  battle  six  German  planes 
were  brought  down. 

Infantry  fighting  in  the  Dixmude  sector  between  Belgian  and  Ger- 
man troops  occurred  on  four  consecutive  days,  from  November  17  to 
20,  with  hand-grenade  battles  but  no  definite  result.  There  was  a  gen- 
eral lull  in  operations  after  this,  caused  by  heavy  weather  and  fogs. 

FRENCH  AEE  FINAL  VICTORS  AT  VERDUN. 

In  a  dramatic  blow  at  Verdun,  after  a  period  of  comparative  quiet 
at  that  point,  the  French  on  October  24  took  the  village  and  fort  of 
Douaumont,  also  Thiaumont,  the  Haudromont  quarries.  La  Caillette 
"Wood,  Damloup  battery  and  trenches  along  a  four-mile  front  to  a 
depth  of  two  miles.  The  ground  retaken  was  the  same  that  the  Ger- 
mans under  the  Crown  Prince  took  by  two  months'  hard  fighting. 
This  was  the  quickest  and  most  effective  blow  struck  in  the  Verdun 
campaign  and  reflected  the  highest  credit  on  the  French  general  com- 
manding, General  Petain,  and  his  devoted  troops,  who  thus  turned  the 
tide  of  victory  at  Verdun  in  favor  of  the  French  and  stamped  with 
failure  the  efforts  of  the  Crown  Prince,  continued  for  nine  months,  to 
wrest  Verdun  from  French  control  and  open  a  road  to  Paris.  It  was 
a  campaign  in  which  failure  meant  defeat  for  the  Germans,  and  its 
cast  in  men,  money  and  munitions  was  enormous. 

Four  thousand  German  prisoners  were  taken  on  the  24th  and  the 
next  day  the  French  began  encircling  Fort  Vaux,  the  only  one  of  the 
outer  ring  of  forts  at  Verdun  which  remained  in  German  hands.  All 
attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Crown  Prince  to  regain  the  lost  ground 
were  fruitless.  Four  German  attacks  were  beaten  back  on  the  26thy 
and  the  following  day  the  French  advanced  south  and  west  of  Vaux 
and  tightened  their  grip  on  the  fortress.  During  violent  artilleiy 
duels,  many  German  attacks  on  the  gained  ground  were  repulsed,  and 
by  November  1  the  prisoners  in  French  hands  numbered  7,000. 

On  November  4  the  French  began  the  attempt  to  take  the  village 
of  Vaux,  held  by  the  Crown  Prince,  and  gained  a  foothold  in  the  vil- 


BATTLES  EAST  AND    WEST  Ml 

lage.  Next  day  they  captured  the  whole  of  Vaux  village  and  also  the 
village  of  Damloup,  The  fort  at  Vaux  had  been  evacuated  by  the 
Germans  a  few  days  previously.  Thus  the  long  and  bloody  struggle 
for  the  possession  of  Verdun  apparently  ended,  although  artillery 
duels  of  varying  intensity  continued  at  intervals,  and  the  laurels  of 
the  prolonged  campaign  rested  with  the  French. 

BRILLIANT  WORK  OF  CANADIAN  TROOPS. 

Brilliant  work  on  the  part  of  the  Canadian  troops  on  the  Somme 
front  aided  materially  to  gain  the  British  successes  recorded  on  Octo- 
ber 21.  William  Philips  Simms,  an  eyewitness  with  the  Canadian 
forces,  gave  a  graphic  account  of  the  attack,  which  was  typical  of 
much  of  the  fighting  on  the  Somme.     He  said: 

''Eight  minutes  of  dashing  across  a  sea  of  mud  worse  than  the 
Slough  of  Despond,  of  methodically  advanced  barrage  fire,  of  quick 
work  in  trench  fight,  sufficed  for  the  Canadians  to  take  Eegina  trench 
— one  of  the  smoothest  bits  of  trench-taking  that  has  been  witnessed  in 
the  Somme  drive.  I  saw  the  Canadians,  muddy  to  the  eyebrows — ^but 
grinning — on  the  day  after  they  had  accomplished  the  feat. 

''The  assault  was  over  in  eight  minutes.  It  was  carried  out  in 
brilliant  moonlight,  and  despite  a  terrific  German  counter  barrage  fire 
and  a  sea  of  mud.    Every  objective  the  Canadians  sought  was  won. 

"Though  the  Germans  repeatedly  counter-attacked,  the  Canadians 
not  only  kept  every  inch  tliey  had  wrested  from  the  enemy,  but  before 
dawn  they  had  strongly  reorganized  their  position  and  dug  over  250 
yards  of  connecting  trenches." 

ACTIVITIES  OP  THE  RUSSIANS. 

On  the  eastern  front  in  the  middle  of  September  strong  Russian 
attacks  before  Halicz  were  driving  the  Teutonic  troops  back  toward 
Lemberg,  and  several  thousand  German  and  Turkish  troops  were 
captured.  The  Russian  advance  was  checked,  however,  on  Septem- 
ber 18,  after  a  total  of  25,000  prisoners  had  been  taken  by  the  Rus- 
sians near  Halicz. 

The  Russian  offensive  was  shifted  September  21  from  the  Lemberg 
sector  to  the  east  of  Kovel  and  a  few  days  after  a  fresh  offensive  be- 
gan along  the  entire  eastern  front,  heavy  fighting  being  reported  west 
of  Lutsk  and  in  the  Carpathians.  Turkish  troops  at  this  time  ap- 
peared on  the  Riga  front,  with  German  equipment  and  led  by  German 
and  Austrian  officers.  The  great  300-mile  battle  continued  unabated 
to  the  end  of  October,  with  fighting  all  along  the  line  from  the  Pinsk 
marshes  on  the  north  to  the  Roumanian  frontier  on  the  south. 


442  BATTLES  EAST  AND    WEST 

By  a  sudden  drive  through  the  Russian  front  north  of  the  Pinsk 
marslies  on  November  10,  the  Germans  succeeded  in  cutting  the  Rus- 
sian first  line,  taking  nearly  4,000  prisoners  and  twenty-seven  machine 
guns.  The  Russian  lines  were  believed  to  have  been  weakened  by  the 
transfer  of  troops  to  Roumanian  positions  in  the  south.  Following 
this  there  was  terrific  fighting  in  the  Narayuvka,  where  the  Russian 
trenches  were  carried  by  the  Germans  after  they  had  been  practically 
destroyed  by  high  explosives;  but  the  ground  lost,  located  near  Sla- 
ventin,  was  gallantly  regained  by  the  Russian  troops  on  November  15, 

The  Russian  dreadnought  Imperatritsa  Maria  was  sunk  by  a  mine 
near  Sulina,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  November  11.  It  was 
launched  in  1914  and  had  a  displacement  of  22,500  tons.  On  Novem- 
ber 18  Russian  troops  near  Sarny,  southeast  of  Pinsk,  brought  down 
a  Zepplein  airship,  capturing  the  crew  of  sixteen  and  600  pounds  of 
bombs. 

German  casualties  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  as  compiled  in 
London  from  German  official  lists,  were  set  November  10  at  3,755,693. 
Of  this  total  910,234  were  killed.  The  total  German  casualties  for  the 
month  of  October,  1916,  reached  199,675  officers  and  men,  of  whom 
34,231  were  killed. 

GREAT   CAMPAIGNS   IN   THE   BALKANS. 

For  some  time  after  Roumania  entered  the  war  her  fighting  forces 
were  divided  between  two  campaigns — in  the  Dobmdja  and  in  Tran- 
sylvania, the  Austrian  territory  invaded  by  Roumania  as  soon  as  she 
declared  war.  On  September  15  the  Roumanians  began  a  retreat 
in  fhe  Dobrudja,  before  advancing  forces  of  Germans  and  Bulga- 
rains  led  by  General  von  Macksensen.  The  Russo-Roumauian  center 
was  driven  back  thirty  miles,  while  the  German  and  Bulgarian  troops 
occupied  several  of  the  Roumanian  Black  Sea  ports. 

Then  came  a  great  six-day  battle  in  the  Dobrudja,  with  fighting 
along  a  forty-five  mile  line  from  ten  miles  south  of  Constanza  to  Cer- 
navoda,  on  the  Danube,  and  in  this  battle  the  Russo-Roumanians  were 
successful,  compelling  the  Teutonic  forces  to  retreat  southward  toward 
the  border.  For  a  while  Von  Mackesen  was  on  the  defensive,  but  in 
a  counter-attack  on  September  23  he  gained  a  marked  victory  over 
the  Roumanians.  Gradually  the  latter  were  forced  to  retire,  and  al- 
though they  made  a  desperate  resistance  to  the  forces  under  Von 
Mackensen  the  latter  reached  the  coast  by  October  21,  advancing  on 
Constanza,  Roumanians  chief  port  on  the  Black  Sea,  which  was  cap- 
tured October  23.    Cernavoda  fell  on  the  25th. 


BATTLES   EAST   AND    WEST  443 

Meanwhile  in  Transylvania  events  of  a  similar  character  had  been 
happening.  At  first  successful  in  their  invasion  of  Austrian  territory, 
the  Roumanians  were  unable  to  hold  their  advantage,  and  while  the 
tide  of  battle  was  for  several  weeks  in  doubt,  the  German  and  Aus- 
trian troops  under  General  von  Falkenhayn  at  length  drove  the  in- 
vaders back  across  the  mountains.  By  October  8  a  Teutonic  invasion 
of  Roumania  from  the  northwest  was  imminent,  and  two  days  later 
the  Roumanians  were  pursued  through  the  passes  by  Austrian  troops. 
By  the  17th  Teuton  forces  were  five  miles  inside  the  frontier. 

On  October  25  Von  Falkenhayn 's  army  stormed  the  Vulcan  Pass 
and  pushed  nearer  the  railroad  at  Kimpolong,  seventy-five  miles  from 
Bucharest.  These  successes  were  not  gained,  however,  without  hard 
fighting,  the  Roumanians  making  a  desperate  stand  to  prevent  the 
Teuton  invasion  which  threatened  their  capital.  They  were  aided  by 
a  French  commander,  General  Bertholet,  and  struck  back  hard  at 
Von  Falkenhayn,  gaining  some  signal  successes  in  the  last  days  of 
October  and  early  in  November  and  capturing  several  thousand  pris- 
oners and  much  war  material.  These  successes,  however,  proved  in- 
sufficient to  do  more  than  check  the  Teuton  advance  toward  Bucharest. 

In  .the  Dobrudja,  after  the  capture  of  Cernavoda  by  Von  Macken- 
sen,  there  were  strenuous  efforts  by  the  Roumanians,  aided  by  Rus- 
sians, to  regain  their  lost  territory.  In  their  early  retreat  they  de- 
stroyed the  great  eleven-mile  bridge  over  the  Danube  at  Cernavoda 
and  so  cut  off  for  the  time  being  Von  Maekesen's  threatened  drive 
a  Bucharest  from  the  south.  The  Roumanians  that  had  been  opposing 
him  fell  back  northward  to  the  Danube  forts.  They  were  hotly  pur- 
sued by  Bulgarians,  who  on  October  29  were  reported  to  be  at  Astrovo, 
fifty  miles  north  of  the  Constanza-Cernavoda  railway  line.  The  pos* 
session  of  the  latter  was  an  immense  advantage  to  Von  Maeksensen. 

General  von  Falkenhayn  continued  his  advance  into  Roumania 
during  November  and  at  the  beginning  of  December  the  battle  for 
Bucharest  was  ranging  on  three  sides  of  the  capital,  with  the  Rouma- 
nians successful  at  some  points,  the  invaders  at  others.  West  of 
Bucharest  the  defenders  had  been  pressed  back  to  the  Argesu  River, 
while  to  the  northwest  the  Germanic  forces  had  smashed  through  the 
Roumanian  lines  and  were  rapidly  moving  down  the  Argesu  Valley 
from  Pitesei  and  down  the  Dombovitza  from  the  Kompelung  region. 

To  the  south  of  the  capital.  King  Ferdinand's  troops  delivered  a 
powerful  counter-attack  on  December  2  that  forced  the  Teutons  back 
from  the  Argesu  line  and  reclaimed  two  villages. 

The  Russians  meanwhile  were  making  a  determined  effort  to  re- 
lieve the  situation  at  Bucharest  by  a  counter-demonstration  in  the 


444  BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST 

Carpathians,  where  on  December  3  a  great  battle  was  developing  in 
their  favor.  They  had  gained  a  foothold  in  Kirlibaba,  the  key  to  the 
Rodna  Pass  and  the  plains  of  Hungary,  and  were  attacking  success- 
fully at  other  points  on  the  250-niile  front.  The  Russians  also  had 
seized  the  western  end  of  the  Cernavoda  bridge  over  the  Danube,  thus 
putting  a  check  on  any  movement  of  General  von  Mackensen's  troops 
across  the  river  from  Dobrudja.  General  Sakharoff 's  forces  continued 
furious  attacks  along  the  entire  line  in  the  Dobrudja. 

ITALIAN   CAMPAIGN   IN   THE   TRENTINO. 

The  Italian  forces  operating  in  the  Trentino  continued  their  activ- 
ity during  the  fall  and  early  winter  of  1916,  continual  gains  being 
made  in  their  difficult  undertaking.  General  Cadoma  began  a  new 
drive  on  Trieste  in  October,  transferring  the  weight  of  his  attacks 
from  the  Carso  sector  to  the  Trentino  front.  The  total  number  of 
Austrian  prisoners  taken  on  the  Isonzo  front  from  August  6  to  Octo- 
ber 12  was  set  by  the  Italian  War  Office  at  30,880.  No  decided  ad- 
vantage was  gained  by  either  side  up  to  December  5,  although  the 
Italians  continued  to  take  many  prisoners  and  much  Austrian  war 
material  in  the  course  of  their  operations,  and  in  November  compelled 
the  Austrian  generals  to  transfer  many  troops  from  the  Roumanian 
front  in  order  to  cope  with  the  Italian  attacks,  delivered  in  the  most 
difficult  terrain  of  the  entire  war  and  often  under  weather  conditions 
that  tried  the  hardihood  of  troops  trained  to  Alpine  warfare. 

DEATH  OF  THE  AUSTRL\N  EMPEROR. 

Francis  Joseph,  Emperor  of  Austria  and  King  of  Hungary,  died 
at  Schonbrunn  Castle,  near  Vienna,  November  21,  at  the  age  of  86. 
He  had  ruled  for  sixty-eight  years,  his  reign  being  marked  by  much 
turbulence  in  the  empire,  both  political  and  social,  and  by  a  long  se- 
ries of  domestic  and  personal  disasters  that  culminated  in  the  assas- 
sination of  his  nephew,  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  heir  to  the 
joint  thrones  of  Austria  and  Hungary,  which  furnished  the  Teutonic 
excuse  for  the  great  war,  Francis  Joseph  was  succeeded  by  his 
grandnephew,  Archduke  Charles  Francis  Joseph,  of  whose  personality 
little  was  known  outside  Austria. 

ZEPPELIN  RAIDERS  BROUGHT  DOWN. 

Several  German  Zeppelins  were  brought  to  earth  on  English  soil 
during  the  progress  of  aerial  raids  in  September  and  November,  1916. 
Commander  Robinson  and  Lieutenants  Tempest  and  Sowery  of  the 
Flying  Corps  each  accounted  for  one  of  the  huge  aircraft  in  the  Lon- 


BATTLES   EAST   AND    WEST  445 

don  district.  The  former  received  the  Victoria  cross  for  his  exploit. 
The  crew  of  one  of  the  Zeppelins  was  captured,  but  in  the  other  cases 
the  crews  perished  y/ith  the  airships,  which  fell  flaming  to  earth.  Two 
more  Zeppelins  were  brought  down  late  in  November  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  England  and  fell  into  the  sea.  One  of  these  was  destroyed 
nine  miles  from  the  coast  by  naval  seaplanes  and  a  patrol  boat. 

DEPORTATION  OF  BELGIAN  WORKMEN. 

A  wave  of  indignation  swept  over  the  civilized  world,  already  out- 
raged almost  beyond  endurance  by  the  unprecedented  German  disre- 
gard of  international  law  and  the  recognized  customs  of  war,  when  it 
was  announced  on  November  10  that  30,000  Belgians  had  been  de- 
ported into  exile  by  the  German  authorities  in  Belgium.  It  was  al- 
leged that  all  males  between  the  ages  of  17  and  30  were  being  sent  in 
cattle-cars  to  German}'-,  Cardinal  Mercier  of  Belgium  protested  in 
the  name  of  humanity,  the  men  being  ruthlessly  torn  from  their  fami- 
lies, and  said  the  Belgians  were  being  reduced  to  a  state  of  slavery. 
The  Pope  protested  to  the  German  government  against  the  reported 
action,  and  the  State  Department  at  Washington  made  representa- 
tions concerning  it  to  Berlin.  The  total  number  of  Belgian  males  to 
be  deported  to  work  in  German  industries  was  alleged  to  be  300,000. 
After  investigation  Viscount  Bryce  of  England  and  many  other 
statesmen  and  publicists  denounced  the  German  action  as  infamous. 

POLAND  PROCLAIMED  A  KINGDOM  BY  GERMANY. 

By  a  joint  manifesto,  issued  on  November  4  by  the  Emperors  of 
Germany  and  Austria,  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Poland  was  revived 
and  Polish  autonomy  ostensibly  re-established.  The  kingdom  was 
proclaimed  with  due  ceremony  in  Lublin  and  Warsaw.  The  definite 
territorial  limits  of  the  new  nation  were  not  set,  according  to  the 
proclamation,  and  would  not  be  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Constitu- 
tional rule  and  a  national  army,  however,  were  to  be  established  at 
once.  The  joint  opinion  of  other  nations,  neutrals  and  Allies  of  the 
Entente,  was  that  Poland  as  captured  territory  could  not  be  recog- 
nized as  a  new  kingdom. 

THE  PALL  OF  BUCHAREST. 

By  December  2  the  battle  for  Bucharest  had  reached  the  outskirts 
of  the  Roumanian  capital  and  the  guns  of  Von  Mackensen's  forces 
began  a  bombardment  of  the  outer  forts,  and  on  December  6  the 
armies  of  the  Central  Powers  took  Bucharest,  cutting  off  a  large 
part  of  the  defending  army,     Ploesci,  the  great  oil  center  of  Rou- 


446      BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST 

mania,  and  Sinaia,  the  summer  capital,  also  fell.  Many  thousands 
of  Roumanian  troops  were  taken  prisoners  in  the  operations  near 
Bucharest,  the  number  being  estimated  at  38,500  for  the  first  week 
of  the  month,  and  the  Roumanians  retired  to  new  positions  to  the 
north  and  east  of  their  fallen  capital.  General  von  Heinrich,  gov- 
ernor of  Lille  during  the  deportation  of  Belgians  from  that  city,  was 
appointed  military  governor  of  Bucharest,  on  which  the  Germans 
imposed  a  levy  amounting  practically  to  $400  a  person,  or  a  total  of 
$140,000,000. 

Von  Mackensen  continued  to  press  his  advances  in  the  Dobrudja 
and  eastern  Wallachia  during  the  month,  though  retarded  by  sturdy 
Russian  and  Roumanian  resistance.  As  Christmas  approached  the 
forces  of  the  Central  Powers  were  pressing  the  Russo-Roumanians 
close  to  the  Danube  where  it  runs  east  and  west,  forming  the  boundary 
between  Roumania  and  Bessarabia. 

CHANGE  IN  BRITISH  GOVERNMENT. 

On  December  7  Mr.  Henry  Lloyd-George  accepted  the  British 
premiership  and  formed  a  new  Cabinet,  which  included  an  important 
representation  of  labor  and  other  elements  of  strength  pointing  to 
a  systematic  and  determined  prosecution  of  the  war  from  all  angles. 
The  Cabinet  as  announced  December  12  included  Sir  Edward  Carson, 
the  Irish  Unionist  leader,  as  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  and  Baron 
Devonport  as  food  controller,  a  new  position.  The  size  of  the  war 
council  was  reduced  to  five,  including  the  premier.  Admiral  Sir 
John  Jellicoe  was  appointed  First  Sea  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  being 
succeeded  in  command  of  the  grand  fleet  of  Britain  by  Admiral  Sir 
David  Beatty,  who  commanded  the  British  battle-cruiser  fleet  in  the 
battle  of  Jutland. 

France  followed  suit  in  reorganizing  her  war  council  under 
Premier  Briand,  also  restricting  the  number  of  members  to  five,  and 
General  Joffre  was  succeeded  in  command  of  the  armies  of  the  north 
and  the  northeast  by  General  Nivelle,  commander  of  the  French 
troops  at  Verdun,  where  notable  victories  were  gained  by  the  French 
in  December,  regaining  almost  all  the  ground  lost  during  the  previous 
operations  of  the  year.  General  Joffre  was  promoted  to  the  high, 
honor  of  Marshal  of  France,  the  ancient  rank  being  revived  for  him. 

CENTRAL  POWERS  MOVE  FOR  PEACE. 

On  December  12  the  Central  Powers  simultaneously  presented 
notes  to  neutral  powers  for  transmission  to  the  nations  of  the  Entente, 
containing  a  proposal  for  an  armistice  to  discuss  the  possibilities  of 


BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST  447 

peace.  No  terms  of  peace  accompanied  the  German  notes  and  after 
consultation  with  the  allies  of  Great  Britain  Premier  Lloyd-George 
delivered  a  speecl>  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  December  19,  declar- 
ing that  the  proposals  of  peace  could  not  be  entertained,  and  in  which 
he  said: 

"I  appear  before  the  House  of  Commons  today  with  the  most 
terrible  responsibility  that  can  fall  upon  the  shoulders  of  any  living 
man  as  chief  adviser  of  the  Crown  in  the  most  gigantic  war  in  which 
this  country  was  ever  engaged — a  war  upon  the  events  of  which  its 
destiny  depends. 

"We  accepted  this  war  for  an  object,  and  a  world  object,  and 
the  war  will  end  when  the  object  is  attained  under  God.  I  hope  it 
will  never  end  until  that  time. 

MUST  KNOW  BERLIN  PLANS. 

""We  feel  that  we  ought  to  know,  before  we  can  give  favorable 
consideration  to  such  an  invitation,  that  Germany  is  prepared  to 
accede  to  the  only  terms  on  which  it  is  possible  peace  can  be  obtained 
and  maintained  in  Europe.  Those  terms  have  been  repeatedly  stated 
by  all  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  Allies.  They  have  been  stated 
repeatedly  here  and  outside.  To  quote  the  leader  of  the  Hous  last 
week: 

"Reparation  and  guarantee  against  repetition,  so  there  shall 
be  no  mistake,  and  it  is  important  that  there  should  be  no  mistake 
in  a  matter  of  life  or  death  to  millions.' 

"Let  me  repeat:  Complete  restitution,  full  reparation,  and 
effectual  guarantees. 

NO  HINT  OF  REPARATION. 

"Did  the  German  Chancellor  use  a  single  phrase  to  indicate  that 
he  was  prepared  to  accept  such  a  peace  ?  Was  there  a  hint  of  restitu- 
tion ?  Was  there  a  suggestion  of  reparation  ?  Was  there  an  implica- 
tion of  any  security  for  the  future  that  this  outrage  on  civilization 
would  not  again  be  perpetrated  at  the  first  profitable  opportunity? 

"The  very  substance  and  style  of  the  speech  constitutes  a  denial 
of  peace  on  the  only  terms  on  which  peace  is  possible.  He  is  not 
even  conscious  now  that  Germany  has  committed  any  offense  against 
the  rights  of  free  nations. 

"Listen  to  this  from  the  note: 

"  'Not  for  an  instant  have  they  [the  Central  Powers]  swerved 
from  the  conviction  that  respect  of  the  rights  of  other  nations  is 
not  in  any  degree  incompatible  with  their  own  rights  and  legitimate 
interests.  * 


448      BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST 

"The  note  and  speech  prove  that  they  have  not  yet  learned  the 
alphabet  of  respect  for  the  rights  of  others. 

* '  The  Allies  entered  this  war  to  defend  Europe  against  the  aggres- 
sion of  Prussian  military  domination,  and,  having  begun  it,  they 
must  insist  that  the  only  end  is  the  most  complete  effective  guarantee 
against  the  possibility  of  that  caste  ever  again  disturbing  the  peace 
of  Europe. 

"You  can't  have  absolute  equality  in  sacrifice.  In  war  that  is 
impossible.  But  you  can  have  equal  readiness  to  sacrifice  from  all. 
There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  who  have  given  their  lives;  there 
are  millions  who  have  given  up  comfortable  homes  and  exchanged 
them  for  daily  communion  with  death.  Multitudes  have  given  up 
those  whom  they  loved  best. 

FOR  NATIONAL   LENT. 

"Let  the  nation  as  a  whole  place  its  comforts,  its  luxuries,  its 
indulgences,  its  elegances  on  the  national  altar  consecrated  by  such 
sacrifices  as  these  men  have  made!  Let  us  proclaim  during  the  war 
a  national  Lent !  The  nation  will  be  better  and  stronger  for  it,  men- 
tally and  morally,  as  well  as  physically.  It  will  strengthen  its  fiber 
and  ennoble  its  spirit.  Without  it  we  shall  not  get  the  full  benefit 
of  this  struggle. 

"Our  armies  have  driven  the  enemy  out  of  the  battered  villages 
of  France  and  across  the  devastated  plains  of  Belgium.  They  might 
hurl  him  across  the  Rhine  in  battered  disarray.  But  unless  the 
nation  as  a  whole  shoulders  part  of  the  burden  of  victory  it  won't 
profit  by  the  triumph,  for  it  is  not  what  a  nation  gains,  but  what  it 
gives  that  makes  it  great." 

PEACE   MESSAGE   BY  PRESIDENT   WILSON. 

A  bombshell  was  cast  into  the  camps  of  the  nations  at  war  on 
December  20,  when  President  Wilson  unexpectedly  addressed  a 
message  to  the  belligerents,  urging  them  to  state  their  terms  of  peace 
and  end  the  war  without  further  fighting. 

An  explanation  of  the  President's  message  to  the  nations  was 
made  by  Secretary  of  State  Lansing  on  the  morning  of  its  publica- 
tion. In  the  course  of  this  he  asserted  that  the  United  States  had 
been  brought  to  ' '  the  verge  of  war, ' '  which  was  generally  understood 
to  mean  that  a  threatened  resumption  of  submarine  activities  by 
Germany  on  a  la'-ge  scale  might  create  an  intolerable  situation ;  also 
that  the  President  desired  to  know  the  terms  of  peace  contemplated 
by  the  powers  at  war,  so  as  to  be  informed  as  to  how  they  would 
affect  the  interests  of  the  United  States. 


BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST  449 

Germany  replied  to  the  President's  note  on  December  26,  ^ving 
no  terms,  but  lauding  the  ''high-minded  suggestion"  of  Mr.  Wilson 
and  proposing  ' '  an  immediate  meeting  of  delegates  of  the  belligerent 
states,  at  a  neutral  place,"  continuing  as  follows:  "The  imperial 
government  is  also  of  the  opinion  that  the  great  work  of  preventing 
further  wars  can  be  begun  only  after  the  end  of  the  present  struggle 
of  the  nations.  It  will,  when  this  moment  shall  have  come,  be  ready 
with  pleasure  to  collaborate  entirely  with  the  United  States  in  this 
exalted  task." 

The  reply  of  the  Entente  Allies  to  President  Wilson's  message 
was  received  January  11.  While  disclaiming  any  intention  of  exter- 
minating the  Teutonic  peoples,  the  Allies  in  this  reply  stated  terms 
of  peace  which  would  result  in  the  humbling  of  Germany  and  Austria- 
Hungary  and  the  expulsion  of  Turkey  from  Europe. 

ENTENTE   PEACE  TERMS. 

The  Entente  peace  terms  enumerated  in  the  reply  to  the  President 
were: 

Restoration  of  Belgium,  Serbia  and  Montenegro,  with  the  payment 
of  indemnities  to  each  by  Germany. 

Evacuation  of  Prance,  Russia  and  Roumania,  with  reparation  to 
-each  by  Germany. 

Reorganization  of  Europe  "guaranteed  by  a  stable  regime  and 
founded  as  much  upon  respect  of  nationalities  and  full  security  and 
liberty  of  economic  development,  which  all  nations,  great  or  small, 
possess,  as  upon  territorial  conventions  and  international  agreements 
suitable  to  guarantee  territorial  and  maritime  frontiers  again  unjusti- 
fied attacks." 

ALSACE-LORRAINE  TO  FRANCE. 

Restoration  to  France  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  by  Germany  and 
to  Italy  of  the  former  northern  provinces  by  Austria. 

Liberation  of  Italians,  Slavs,  Roumanians  and  Tcheco  Slovaques 
(Czech  Slavs)  from  domination  by  the  Central  Powers,  which  would 
mean  the  cession  of  several  outlying  portions  of  Austria-Hungary  to 
Russia,  Roumania,  Serbia  and  Italy. 

Enfranchisement  of  the  Armenians  and  other  "populations  sub- 
ject to  the  bloody  tyranny  of  the  Turks." 

Expulsion  of  the  Turkish  empire  from  Europe,  thus  giving  Con- 
stantinople to  Russia. 


450  BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST 

WOULD   LIBERATE   EUROPE. 

"It  goes  without  saying,"  concluded  the  note,  "that,  if  the  Allies 
wish  to  liberate  Europe  from  the  brutal  covetousness  of  Prussian 
militarism,  it  never  has  been  their  design,  as  has  been  alleged,  to 
encompass  the  extermination  of  the  German  peoples  and  their  polit- 
ical disappearance. 

"That  which  they  desire  above  all  is  to  insure  a  peace  upon  the 
principles  of  liberty  and  justice,  upon  the  inviolable  fidelity  to  inter- 
national obligation  with  which  the  government  of  the  United  States 
has  never  ceased  to  be  inspired. 

WANT    VICTORIOUS    WAR. 

"United  in  the  pursuits  of  this  supreme  object,  the  Allies  are 
determined,  individually  and  collectively,  to  act  with  all  their  power 
and  to  consent  to  all  sacrifices  to  bring  to  a  victorious  close  a  conflict 
upon  which  they  are  convinced  not  only  their  own  safety  and  pros- 
perity depend,  but  also  the  future  of  civilization  itself." 

Belgium,  in  addition  to  joining  with  her  allies  in  the  reply  to 
the  President,  sent  an  individual  note,  in  which  the  conquered  king- 
dom made  a  stirring  appeal  for  American  sympathy  in  its  purpose 
to  fight  on  till  it  won  freedom  with  reparation. 

The  Allies  promised  that  in  the  event  of  peace  on  these  terms 
Russia  would  carry  out  her  announced  intention  of  conferring 
autonomy  on  Poland. 

THE  PECULIAR  SITUATION  IN  GREECE. 

A  curious  situation  developed  in  Greece  during  the  fall  and  early 
winter  of  1916.  The  German  sympathies  of  King  Constautine  had 
brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  considerable  portion  of  the  Greek 
people  led  by  the  former  premier,  Venizelos,  and  the  latter  had  pro- 
claimed a  Greek  republic  and  placed  troops  in  the  field  in  active  co- 
operation with  the  Allies.  Diplomatic  representatives  of  the  Entente 
Powers  who  had  remained  in  Athens  were  ordered  to  leave  early  in  No- 
vember, their  presence  being  felt  to  be  a  menace  to  the  interests  of  the 
Allies,  whose  warships  commanded  the  Greek  ports  and  whose  troops 
were  stationed  at  Saloniki  in  large  numbers.  The  ostensible  neutrality 
of  King  Coustantine's  government  was  regarded  by  the  Allies  as  dan- 
gerous, the  failure  of  Greece  to  respond  to  the  call  of  Serbia,  its 
treaty  ally,  having  demonstrated  the  governmental  inclination  toward 
the  cause  of  the  Central  Powers.  In  order  to  minimize  the  danger, 
therefore,  the  French  admiral,  Du  Fournet,  in  command  of  the  Allied 


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BATTLES  EAST  AND   WEST  451 

fleet,  demanded  the  surrender  to  the  Allies  of  certain  guns  and  war 
material,  and  this  demand  being  refused  French  and  British  marines 
were  landed  at  the  Piraeus  on  December  2,  1916,  and  took  possession 
of  the  Acropolis.  This  led  to  their  being  fired  upon  by  Greek  reserv- 
ists who  had  been  called  out,  and  some  bloodshed  resulted,  there 
being  about  200  casualties  before  a  compromise  was  reached  between 
King  Constantine  and  the  Allied  commanders  and  the  Greek  crisis 
passed  for  the  time  being.  The  king  submitted  to  part  of  the  Allied 
demands,  the  others  were  waived,  and  the  forces  landed  were  with- 
drawn, after  a  day  of  fighting  in  which  the  Greek  reservists  engaged 
in  many  clashes  with  the  armed  followers  of  Venizelos. 

On  January  9  ministers  of  the  Entente  Powers  handed  to  the 
Greek  government  an  ultimatum  giving  Greece  forty-eight  hours 
to  comply  with  the  demands  contained  in  the  note  drawn  up  by 
France,  Great  Britain  and  Russia  on  December  31. 

Included  in  the  ultimatum  was  a  request  by  the  Entente  Powers 
that  the  Greek  government  fulfill  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  the 
agreement  of  December  14  regarding  the  transfer  of  Greek  troops 
from  Thessaly. 

BRITISH  ENTER  GERMAN  LINES. 

During  the  night  of  January  14  a  party  of  British  troops  entered 
the  German  lines  east  of  Loos.  Many  casualties  were  inflicted  on  the 
enemy,  his  dug-outs  were  bombed  and  some  prisoners  were  secured. 
North  of  the  Anere  an  enemy  transport  was  successfully  engaged. 

In  addition  to  the  usual  artillery  activity  the  enemy's  positions 
were  effectually  bombarded  southeast  of  Loos  and  opposite  the  Bois 
Grenier. 

GERMANS    DRIVEN    BACK. 

The  official  communication  of  the  French  war  office  January  15, 
1917,  announced  that  reciprocal  bombardments  took  place  on  both 
banks  of  the  Somme,  the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse  and  in  Lorraine. 

After  a  bombardment  the  night  before  between  the  Aisne  and  the 
Argonne  the  Germans  attacked  the  French  advanced  posts ;  they  were 
driven  back  after  a  spirited  combat  with  gTenades. 

On  their  side  the  French  carried  out  several  surprise  attacks  on  the 
enemy  lines,  taking  material  and  prisoners. 

On  January  16  a  powerful  offensive  was  started  by  the  Eusso- 
Roumanian  forces  in  the  Roumanian  theatre  of  war,  with  strong  at- 
tacks between  the  Casinu  and  Sushitza  valleys  and  on  both  sides  of 
Fundeni.     In  places  the  trenches  of  the  German  Allies  were  entered. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CONTINUATION  OF  WAR  IN  1917. 

German  Sea  Raider  Busy — British  Victory  in  Mesopotamia — 
Russia  Dethrones  the  Czar — United  States'  Relations 
with  Germany  Severed — Germans  Retreat  on  the  West, 

On  January  10  the  Greek  government  accepted  the  ultimatum  of 
the  Allies,  providing  satisfaction  to  them  without  interfering  with 
the  administration  of  the  country  or  local  communications.  From 
this  time  on  the  situation  in  Greece  ceased  to  be  a  source  of  serious 
trouble  to  the  Allied  commanders  at  Saloniki. 

GERMAN   SEA  RAIDER  BUSY. 

It  was  learned  on  January  17  that  a  German  sea  raider,  which 
had  succeeded  in  slipping  through  the  cordon  of  British  ships,  had 
been  preying  on  commerce  in  the  south  Atlantic  for  six  weeks. 
Twenty-one  vessels  were  reported  to  have  been  sunk  by  the  raider, 
with  a  total  loss  of  approximately  $40,000,000.  Victims  of  the  raider 
who  were  landed  at  Pernambueo,  Brazil,  January  18  stated  their 
belief  that  she  was  the  steamship  Moewe,  notorious  as  a  raider 
early  in  the  war,  but  later  reported  docked  in  the  Kiel  Canal.  It 
was  said  that  she  left  the  Canal  disguised  as  a  Danish  hay-ship. 

NAVAL   BATTLE   IN   THE  NORTH    SEA. 

In  a  sea  battle  off  Zeebrugge,  Holland,  on  January  23,  fourteen 
German  torpedo-boat  destroyers,  attempting  to  leave  port,  were 
attacked  by  a  British  flotilla  and  seven  of  them  were  reported  sunk. 

BRITISH  \aCTORY  IN  MESOPOTAMIA. 

Victorious  advances  were  made  in  Mesopotamia  during  the  mouth 
of  January  by  the  British  forces,  who  were  determined  to  wipe  out 
the  reverse  sustained  in  the  surrender  at  Kut-el-Amara  in  1916.  On 
January  21  it  was  announced  that  the  Turks  had  been  driven  out 
of  positions  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Tigris,  near  Kut,  the  British 
occupying  their  trenches  on  a  wide  front. 

After  a  series  of  persistent  attacks  Kut-el-Amara  fell  before  the 
British  advance  on  February  26,  opening  the  road  to  Bagdad.  The 
Turkish  garrison  of  the  city  took  flight,  hotly  pursued  by  the  British 
cavalry,  and  more  than  2,000  prisoners  were  taken,  with  many  guns 
and  large  quantities  of  war  material.  Next  day  the  British  defeated 
the  Turks  in  a  sanguinary  battle  15  miles  northwest  of  the  captured 
town,  and  took  many  more  prisoners.  Bagdad  soon  fell  into  their 
hands,  and  as  the  month  of  April  approached  the  British  were  on 
the  eve  of  effecting  a  junction  with  the  Russian  army  advancing 
through  Mesopotamia. 

452 


CONTINUATION  OF  WAR  45B 

ON    THE   EASTERN    FRONT. 

After  many  vicissitudes  in  the  fighting  on  the  Eastern  front  in 
January,  the  Russians  struck  a  smashing  blow  at  the  Teuton  line 
on  January  28,  tearing  a  mile-wide  gap  in  Bukowina,  close  to  the 
Roumanian  frontier.  Berlin  admitted  that  the  offensives  on  the 
Sereth  and  Riga  fronts  had  been  temporarily  stopped,  that  many 
prisoners  had  been  taken  by  the  Russians,  and  that  the  German  lines 
had  been  withdrawn  because  of  superior  pressure.  The  reorganized 
Roumanian  army  was  reported  ready  for  a  new  offensive  in  the 
spring. 

The  Russian  successes  were,  however,  only  temporary  and  the 
remainder  of  the  winter  campaign  was  marked  by  repeated  efforts 
on  the  part  of  the  Germans  to  break  down  the  Russian  defenses  of 
Riga  on  the  north,  and  to  push  the  Slavs  still  further  back  on  the 
south.  Late  in  February  the  Teuton  forces  entered  Russian  positions 
in  Galicia  and  also  re-took  the  offensive  on  the  Roumanian  front, 
raiding  Russian  trenches  in  the  Carpathians  and  blocking  all  Russian 
attempts  to  force  the  mountain  passes.  On  February  28  they 
recaptured  most  of  the  peaks  in  the  Bukowina  which  w^ere  lost  to 
the  Russians  earlier  in  the  year,  and  took  a  large  number  of  Russian 
prisoners. 

Meanwhile  the  Russian  advance  in  Persia  and  Mesopotamia  against 
the  Turks  continued  unchecked,  and  events  of  importance  were  shap- 
ing themselves  in  the  Russian  empire,  calculated  to  have  an  immense 
eft'ect  on  the  conduct  of  the  Russian  armies  in  the  field  as  well  as  on 
the  fortunes  of  the  Romanoff  dynasty. 

RUSSIA    DETHRONES    THE    CZAR. 

Early  in  March,  after  several  days  of  ominous  silence  in  regard 
to  events  in  Petrograd,  the  news  of  a  successful  revolution  in  Russia 
astonished  the  world.  From  March  9  to  March  15,  it  appeared,  the 
Russian  people,  headed  by  Michael  Rodzianko,  President  of  the  Duma, 
set  about  cleaning  house  with  quiet  but  characteristic  thoroughness. 
Beginning  with  minor  food  riots  and  labor  strikes,  the  cry  for  food 
reached  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers,  and  one  by  one,  regiments  rebelled 
until  finally  those  troops  which  had  for  a  time  stood  loyal  to  the 
government  of  the  Czar  and  his  bureaucratic  advisers  gathered  up 
their  arms  and  marched  into  the  ranks  of  the  revolutionists. 

The  change  came  with  startling  and  -dramatic  rapidity.  The 
Duma,  ordered  by  Imperial  rescript  to  dissolve,  refused  to  obey 
and  voted  to  continue  its  meetings.  An  Executive  Committee  was 
appointed,  headed  by  the  President  of  the  Duma,  which  after  arrest- 
ing a  number  of  pro-German  ministers  of  the  Czar,  proclaimed  itself 
a  Provisional  Government  and  announced  its  intention  of  creating 
a  new  representative  form  of  government  for  the  country.  With  the 
assistance  of  the  army,  it  was  soon  in  control. 

Czar  Nicholas  was  promptly  compelled  to  abdicate  the  throne  for 
himself  and  his  young  son.  At  first  the  crown  was  offered  to  his 
KiTOtner,  tne  Grand  Duke  Michael,  but  inside  of  twenty-four  hours 


454  CONTINUATION  OF  WAB 

he  declined  it,  also  abdicating  formally.  The  Czar  and  imperial 
family  were  confined,  while  the  former  pro-German  ministers  were 
thrown  into  prison.  The  new  Provisional  Government  pledged  itself 
to  conduct  the  war  against  Germany  vigorously,  and  promised  the 
people  complete  religious  liberty  and  freedom  of  speech,  political 
amnesty,  universal  suffrage,  and  a  constitutional  assembly  to 
determine  the  form  of  the  permanent  new  government.  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Italy  were  prompt  to  recognize  the  Duma  committee  and 
it  was  also  given  enthusiastic  support  by  the  Russian  armies  in  the 
field. 

By  March  20  absolute  quiet  prevailed  in  Petrograd  and  through- 
out Russia.  The  Allies  were  officially  notified  of  the  abdication  of 
Nicholas  II  and  informed  by  Foreign  Minister  Milukoff  that  Russia 
would  stay  in  the  war  with  them  to  the  end.  Prince  Lvoff,  one  of 
the  most  popular  men  in  Russia,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
Government  Constitute  and  general  political  amnesty  was  proclaimed 
in  a  ukase  which  brought  numbers  of  political  prisoners  back  to  their 
homes  from  Siberia,  and  caused  great  rejoicing  throughout  the 
country,  no  longer  an  empire  of  the  Romanoffs,  who  had  ruled  it 
for  centuries  with  a  rod  of  iron. 

The  United  States  recognized  the  new  order  of  things  in  Russia 
on  March  22.  A  few  days  later  the  grand  dukes  and  royal  princes 
of  Russia  jointly  informed  the  Government  Constitute  that  they 
formally  associated  themselves  with  the  abdication  of  Grand  Duke 
Michael  and  would  turn  over  to  the  new  Government  the  crown 
lands  and  other  state  grants  in  their  possession,  thus  completing  the 
total  abdication  of  the  Romanoff  dynasty  and  placing  the  seal  of 
complete  success  on  the  most  remarkable  revolution  the  world  ever 
saw — accomplished  almost  without  bloodshed,  for  the  troops  in  Petro- 
grad had  refused  to  fire  upon  the  revolutionists  after  the  first  few 
hours  of  disturbance  in  the  streets  of  the  capital,  and  most  of  the 
casualties  were  among  the  soldiers  themselves. 

The  Russian  revolution,  produced  in  the  crucible  of  war,  meant 
the  overthrow  of  Germanism  in  Russia,  which  had  hampered  the 
efforts  of  its  armies  by  treasonable  neglect,  if  not  worse,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  many  neutral  observers,  destroyed  the  last  chance  of  a 
German  victoiy  in  the  war.  The  effect  of  the  revolution  on  Germany 
was  twofold — it  darkened  her  military  outlook,  and  gave  a  tremendous 
impulse  to  the  latent  liberal  forces  within  her  empire.  Its  effect  on 
the  war  was  almost  equivalent  to  bringing  a  new  nation  into  the 
camp  of  the  Allies.  Its  meaning  to  German  democracy  was  thus 
stated : 

' '  Germany  has  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  European  war  was 
inaugurated  by  Russia  for  aggressive  purposes.  Germany's  demo- 
cratic leaders  repeatedly  pointed  to  Czarism  as  the  evil  spirit  dominat- 
ing the  Entente.  The  object  of  the  Central  Powers  was  proclaimed 
to  be  the  overthrow  of  the  Russian  autocratic  menace.     Therefor© 


CONTINUATION  OF  WAR  455 

the  Russian  revolution  may  profoundly  move  German  democracy. 
This  is  probably  its  greatest  disillusionment  since  the  war  began." 

CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

To  get  a  clear  picture  of  the  conditions  that  produced  the  revolu- 
tion, it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  from  a  very  early  period  the 
German-bom  Czarina  and  the  clique  of  pro-German  reactionaries 
whom  her  influence  made  powerful  with  the  Czar,  were  bent  on 
ending  the  war  prematurely  in  the  interests  of  reaction.  The  Min- 
isters set  up  under  these  auspices  for  over  two  yeai-s  acted  in 
defiance  of  public  opinion.  Their  policy  was  not  obscure;  they 
hampered  the  army  in  respect  of  munitions,  disorganized  the  country 
in  respect  of  its  distributive  services,  brought  about  artificial  famine 
\a  a  land  which  is  one  of  the  world's  chief  food-producers,  and. 
themselves,  through  police  agents,  sought  to  stir  up  abortive  revolts 
in  order  that  they  might  plead  military  failure  and  internal 
revolution  as  a  reason  for  withdrawing  from  the  war. 

The  Russian  people  foiled  them  for  a  long  time  by  magnificent  and 
much-enduring  patriotism.  When  the  government  left  the  army  with- 
out munitions,  the  local  authorities — the  zemstvos  and  unions  of 
towns — stepped  in  and  organized  their  supply.  When  police  agents 
tried  to  bring  about  riots  and  strikes,  the  workmen's  own  leaders 
prevented  their  breaking  out.  When  secret  negotiations  were  opened 
up  with  Germany,  the  Duma  blasted  them  by  public  exposure  on  the 
popular  side. 

The  Duma's  demand  for  sympathetic  and  really  national  govern- 
ment was  enforced,  first  by  the  Council  of  the  Empire,  normally  the 
stronghold  of  high  officialdom,  and  then  by  the  Congress  of  Nobles, 
which  represents  the  landed  aristocracy. 

But  with  the  nobility,  much  of  the  bureaucracy,  the  army,  the 
navy,  the  Duma,  the  professional  classes,  and  the  working  classes 
all  ranged  against  them,  the  "dark  forces"  of  the  empire  held 
obstinately  on  their  way.  The  murder  of  the  court  favorite,  the 
infamous  monk  Rasputin,  only  intensified  the  reaction,  though  its 
story  and  sequel  showed  significantly  how  far  many  members  of  the 
Imperial  family  were  from  supporting  the  reigning  head  and  his 
consort  in  the  policy  which  was  jeopardizing  the  dynasty.  But  the 
Czar's  political  blindness  was  incurable.  In  a  kind  of  panic  he  got 
rid  of  every  remaining  progressive  minister;  a  nonentity  of  no 
importance  from  the  Czar's  personal  circle  was  made  prime  minister, 
and  the  real  power  fell  to  Protopopoff,  the  strong  man  of  the  ''dark 
forces,"  who  was  to  see  their  designs  through,  but  was  the  first 
victim  of  the  popular  uprising.  As  minister  of  the  interior  he  defiecf 
all  Russia,  precipitated  the  revolution,  and  in  his  violent  death  the 
career  of  the  ''dark  forces"  in  Russia  was  ended,  no  doubt  for  all 
time. 

UNRESTRICTED   SUBMARINE   WARFARE, 

On  February  1  Germany  entered  upon  imrestricted  submarine  war- 
fare, after  warning  had  been  given  of  this  last  resort  of  desperation- 


456  CONTINUATION^  OF  WAR 

Ten  ships  were  reported  sunk  and  eight  lives  lost  that  day.  Neutral 
vessels  and  belligerents  were  destroyed  without  discrimination,  and  in 
the  first  six  days  the  tonnage  of  the  vessels  sunk  by  German  U-boats 
was  86,344  tons,  including  45  ships  of  all  nationalities.  The  British 
liner  California,  formerly  of  the  Anchor  Line,  was  torpedoed  on  the 
seventh  day,  and  sank  with  a  loss  of  100  lives.  Transatlantic  ships 
were  held  in  New  York  and  other  eastern  ports,  pending  instructions 
from  the  Government  as  to  sailing  in  the  face  of  the  German 
warning,  against  which  President  Wilson  had  strongly  protested. 

KELATIONS  WITH  GERMANY  SEVERED. 

Diplomatic  relations  were  broken  with  Germany  on  February  2, 
1917  when  President  Wilson  appeared  before  a  joint  session  of 
Congress  and  announced  that  the  German  Ambassador,  Count  von 
Bernstorff,  had  been  given  his  passports,  and  that  Ambassador  Gerard 
had  been  recalled  from  Berlin.  War  with  Germany  was  then  believed 
to  be  only  a  matter  of  hours,  awaiting  the  first  German  overt  act. 
The  reserve  force  of  the  Atlantic  Fleet  was  ordered  to  make  ready 
for  immediate  service.    But  the  hour  had  not  yet  struck  for  war. 

INTERNED  SHIPS  DAMAGED  BY  GERMANS. 

Examination  of  a  number  of  the  German  merchant  vessels  interned 
in  United  States  ports  showed  that  most  of  them  had  been  seriously 
damaged  by  their  crews  to  render  them  unseaworthy,  and  it  was 
rumored  that  the  partial  wreckage  of  these  ships  had  been  ordered 
February  1  by  the  German  government.  Twenty-three  German  ships 
seized  by  the  naval  authorities  at  Manila  were  also  found  to  have 
received  willful  damage. 

On  February  8  the  State  Department  notified  all  American  vessel- 
owners  that  merchant  ships  under  the  American  flag  might  arm 
against  submarines  but  that  no  naval  convoys  would  be  supplied  by 
the  Government,  Sailings  of  American  liners  were  still  held  up 
pending  decision  about  their  armament. 

The  United  States  Senate  indorsed  the  stand  of  the  President  in 
the  break  with  Germany,  by  a  vote  of  78  to  5. 

On  February  13  it  was  announced  at  Washington  that  an  advance 
was  made  by  the  German  government,  through  the  Swiss  legation, 
offering  to  reopen  the  discussion  of  submarine  methods.  The  answer 
of  the  United  States  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Government  refused  to 
discuss  the  international  situation  with  Germany  until  the  U-boat 
warfare  was  abandoned  and  the  pledges  made  in  the  case  of  the 
steamer  Sussex  were  restored.  The  Spanish  ambassador  took  over  the 
deserted  American  embassy  at  Berlin.  President  Wilson,  with  his 
cabinet,  prepared  a  bill  of  particulars  containing  the  grievances  against 
the  German  government,  with  special  emphasis  on  the  refusal  of  the 
latter  to  liberate  seventy-two  American  seamen  taken  to  Germany  as 
prisoners  on  the  steamer  Yarrowdale,  one  of  the  vessels  captured  \u. 
the  South  Atlantic  by  the  raider  supposed  to  be  the  Moewe. 


CONTINUATION  OF  WAR  457 

GERMAN  PLOT  IN   MEXICO. 

Intense  feeling  was  aroused  throughout  the  United  States  when 
it  was  learned  on  February  28  that  Germany  had  suggested  to  Mexico 
an  alliance  by  which  war  was  to  be  made  on  the  United  States  if  it 
did  not  remain  neutral.  Mexico  was  to  have  German  aid  to  regain 
the  southwestern  territory  acquired  from  it,  and  to  have  a  share 
in  the  ultimate  peace  conference.  It  was  to  induce  Japan  to  leave 
the  Allies  and  join  in  making  war  on  America.  Documentary  proof 
of  such  plots  was  said  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  but  a  few 
days  later  the  German  foreign  secretary  admitted  the  scheme  as  his 
own  and  sought  to  justify  it  as  a  necessary  precaution  against  war. 
The  discovery  of  the  plot  did  more  than  anything  else  to  arouse  the 
American  people  to  a  sense  of  the  danger  impending  from  Germany, 

GERMANS  RETREAT  ON  THE  W^ST. 

After  numerous  minor  successes  by  the  British  and  French  on 
the  Western  front,  the  Germans  effected  a  retreat  late  in  February, 
which  was  the  greatest  retirement  in  two  years,  as  they  yielded  on  a 
front  of  several  miles  on  the  Ancre  to  the  Allies,  including  important 
towns.  The  growing  superiority^  of  the  Allies  in  artillery  had  begun 
to  count,  and  the  retirement,  while  announced  from  Berlin  as  strate- 
gic, was  undoubtedly  forced  by  the  development  of  Allied  strength. 
The  capture  of  Bapaume  soon  followed.  By  March  2  the  Germans 
had  retreated  on  a  front  of  14  miles  to  a  depth  of  from  two  to  three 
miles,  and  the  British  were  still  pushing  forward. 

Another  extended  German  retreat  began  on  the  "West  front  March 
17,  the  British  and  French  advancing  without  resistance  for  from 
two  to  four  miles  on  a  front  of  35  miles.  Peronne  was  captured  next 
day  and  it  became  evident  that  the  Germans  were  falling  back  to  a 
so-called  Hindenburg  line,  25  miles  to  the  rear  of  their  former  posi- 
tions. The  Allied  advance  continued  until  more  than  300  towns  and 
villages  were  reoccupied  and  some  1,500  square  miles  of  French 
territory  regained  by  March  21.  The  German  armies  in  their  retreat 
devastated  the  country  in  the  most  wanton  manner,  even  going  so  far 
as  to  destroy  fruit  trees,  wells,  churches,  and  buildings  of  every  kind. 
They  also  drove  before  them  many  of  the  inhabitants,  including 
women  and  girls,  leaving  only  a  remnant  of  the  former  populations, 
mostly  old  and  feeble  folk  and  children,  ,these  being  left  destitute 
and  without  food  even  for  a  day.  The  story  of  this  devastating 
retreat  aroused  horror  throughout  the  world. 

On  March  25  the  French  pressed  an  attack  against  the  whole 
front  between  St.  Quentin  and  Soissons  and  made  progress  every- 
where. From  this  time  on  the  French  offensive  was  active  for  three 
weeks,  culminating  in  a  great  victory  on  the  Soissons  front  April  16, 
in  which  the  German  losses  were  placed  at  100,000- 

A  GREAT  BRITISH  OFFENSIVE. 

In  the  week  of  April  9  the  British  made  great  gains  in  the  Arras 
sector,  capturing  German  positions  to  a  great  depth  and  taking  a 
total  of  some  15,000  prisoners  and  390  guns  of  all  calibers,  some  of 


458  CONTINUATION  OF  WAR 

which  were  turned  against  the  Germans  as  they  sought  to  stem  the 
tide  of  British  successes  by  desperate  rearguard  actions.  Notable 
victories  were  won  by  tlie  Canadian  troops  in  the  capture  of  the 
hotly  contested  Vimy  Ridge  and  other  positions  during  the  battle 
of  Arras,  as  this  series  of  important  engagements  was  called,  even 
before  it  was  concluded  with  all  the  honors  in  Allied  hands. 

For  several  days  after  the  first  dash  on  Monday  morning,  April 
9,  the  British  tore  through  the  German  defenses  on  an  extended  front 
north  and  south  of  Arras,  from  the  north  bank  of  the  River  Scarpe 
to  the  German  trench  system  just  south  of  Loos,  and  straddled  the 
iron  line  of  Hindenburg  by  April  13  as  far  as  a  point  seven  miles 
southeast  of  Arras. 

But  success  did  not  stop  here.  To  the  south  the  British  progressed 
on  a  front  of  about  nine  miles,  between  Metz-en-C outre  and  a  point 
to  the  north  of  Hargicourt.  The  French  columns  joining  the  British 
in  this  sector  swept  forward  along  with  their  allies.  They  attacked 
with  tremendous  vigor  German  positions  south  of  St.  Quentin  and 
carried  several  lines  of  trenches  between  the  Somme  and  the  St. 
Quentin  railway.  These  positions  were  held  despite  every  effort 
of  the  Germans  to  retake  them. 

Throughout  the  length  of  interlinked  chain  of  advances  the  fight- 
ing was  of  the  utmost  ferocity. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  war  the  British  were  making  sharp  drives 
and  smashes  like  a  skillful  pugilist,  every  one  of  wliich  contained 
force  enough  to  have  been  considered  a  major  attack  in  the  history 
of  other  wars.  In  places  the  attack  has  shaken  loose  from  the 
trenches  and  was  being  delivered  along  the  lines  of  the  old  Napeleonie 
strategy. 

The  British  captures  of  Vimy  and  later  of  Givenchy  were  looked 
on  as  victories  of  the  utmost  importance,  equal  to  the  storming  by 
the  Canadians  of  the  Vimy  Ridge.  When  this  line  of  hills  was 
firmly  in  the  hands  of  the  Canadians,  they  hauled  their  heavy  guns 
up  to  the  summit  with  extraordinary  speed  and  proceeded  to  batter 
to  pieces  the  powerful  defenses  of  Vimy,  while  they  made  continual 
thrusts  down  the  eastern  slopes. 

In  1915  Vimy  was  for  a  time  held  by  the  French  under  Gen.  Foch, 
but  they  were  shouldered  out  with  great  slaughter  by  the  Germans, 
who  proceeded  to  lavish  the  last  details  of  their  military  science 
upon  the  fortifications  of  the  town. 

Givenchy,  too,  before  which  many  British  dead  lie  buried,  was  a 
stronghold  upon  which  the  Germans  counted  to  stem  any  advance. 

On  April  16  the  extension  of  the  British  attack  nearly  to  Loos 
threatened  to  pocket  Lens,  just  as  a  loop  had  been  thrown  around 
St.  Quentin,  and  the  fall  of  this  industrial  city  with  its  rich  coal 
mines  was  considered  inevitable.  Indeed,  credible  reports  had  been 
received  in  Paris  that  the  devastation  of  the  rich  city  of  Lille  hy  the 
Germans  Avas  well  under  way,  indicating  that  they  contemplated  a 


CONTINUATION  OF  WAR  459 

reluctant  evacuation  of  the  most  important  center  in  northern  France. 
At  all  events,  an  immediate  ebb  in  the  German  tide  was  necessitated 
by  the  British  successes  of  April  9  to  16.  The  momentum  of  Field 
Marshal  Haig's  advance  and  the  successes  of  the  French  on  their 
share  of  the  western  front  appecired  to  make  a  further  retirement  of 
the  whole  Grerman  line  imperative — and  the  great  Allied  drive  had 
scarcely  begun. 

SCENE  OF  THE  CANADIAN  VICTORY. 

An  exploration  on  April  13  of  Vimy  Ridge,  carried  by  the 
Canadian  troops  in  a  series  of  historic  charges,  showed  that  the 
British  artillery  virtually  bleif  off  the  top  of  it,  and  the  German 
stronghold  which  had  resisted  all  efforts  of  the  French  and  British 
during  more  than  two  years  of  war,  was  finally  forced  into  such  a 
position  by  high  explosives  that  it  could  no  longer  resist  infantry 
charges.  Walking  on  the  top  of  the  ridge  was  a  continuous  climb 
from  one  shell  crater  to  another.  Two  surmounting  knobs,  known 
only  on  military  maps  as  numbered  hills,  had  attracted  the  fire  of  the 
heaviest  British  guns  and  had  been  shattered  into  unrecognizable 
buttes  on  the  landscape. 

It  was  little  wonder  the  Germans  made  such  desperate  efforts  to 
hold  the  Vimy  ridge  and  to  retake  certain  portions  of  it  by  counter 
attacks  which  failed  miserably.  The  ridge  stood  as  a  natural  barrier 
between  the  Germans  and  their  opponents  and  was  a  great  protective 
chain  of  hills  shielding  invaluable  coal,  iron,  and  other  mineral  lands 
that  Germany  had  wrested  from  France  in  the  first  onrush  of  the 
war  in  1914.  The  city  of  Lens,  within  sight  of  the  British  lines, 
from  the  ridge,  is  a  great  mining  center. 

THE  PEENCH  VICTORY  AT  SOISSONS. 

On  April  16  the  ''big  push"  of  the  Allies  in  France  flared  into  a 
continuous  battle  covering  nearly  every  mile  of  the  long  line  from  the 
North  Sea  to  the  Swiss  border.  Between  Soissons  and  Rheims  the 
French  engaged  in  a  terrific  struggle,  driving  forward  in  a  solid 
mass  against  the  German  lines  on  a  front  of  twenty-five  miles.  Their 
way  paved  by  ten  days  of  "drum  fire,"  the  troops  of  Gen.  Nivelle 
swept  forward,  carrying  all  of  the  first  line  of  German  positions 
between  Soissons  and  Craonne.  They  also  took  the  second  line  posi- 
tions, south  of  Juvincourt,  east  of  Craonne.  reached  the  outskirts  of 
Bermericourt,  and  advanced  up  the  Aisne  canal  at  Loivre  and  Courcy. 

During  these  operations  the  French  captured  10,000  Germans  and 
a  vast  amount  of  war  material. 

The  British  were  continuing  their  pressure  on  both  Lens  and  St. 
Quentin,  but  were  temporarily  held  up  by  a  great  storm  on  the  16th. 
The  night  before  they  captured  the  village  of  Villaret,  which 
straightened  Field  Marshal  Haig's  line  northwest  of  St.  Quentin, 
and  made  further  progress  to  the  northwest  of  Lens.  The  prison 
cages  tx)  tie  rear  of  Arrw  were  filled  with  German  prisoners,  nearly 


460  CONTINUATION  OF  WAR 

all  of  whom  were  captured  in  a  dazed  condition  from  tlie  terrific 
British,  fire  that  won  the  great  battle  of  Arras. 

A    TITANIC    STRUGGLE   FORESEEN. 

"The  struggle  in  the  western  theater  of  war  promises  to  be  a 
titanic  one,"  said  an  eye-witness  at  British  headquarters,  April  16. 
"The  Allies  are  prepared  as  never  before,  both  in  material  and 
personnel,  and  are  co-operating  with  a  smoothness  which  comes 
from  a  complete  understanding  and  thorough  appreciation  of  the 
work  in  hand. 

"The  Germans  have  more  divisions  on  the  western  front  than 
would  have  been  thought  possible  :-i  year  ago,  but  already  a  half 
score  of  Germany's  best  divisions  have  been  smashed  to  pieces  by  the 
British  onslaught  and  their  own  unsuccessful  counter-attacks.  The 
Bavarian  divisions  were  sacrificed  first,  but  the  Prussian  Guard 
divisions,  thrown  in  to  stem  the  British  flood  tide,  have  suffered  such 
casualties  in  the  last  few  days  that  they  will  have  to  be  relieved. ' ' 

The  Canadians  accounted  for  a  large  contingent  of  Prussian 
grenadiers  in  the  fighting  about  "The  Pimple"  on  Vimy  ridge  while 
an  engagement  at  Lagnicourt  April  15  took  its  heaviest  toll  both  in 
dead  and  prisoners  from  five  German  guard  regiments. 

GEBMiVN  ROUT  AT  LAGNICOURT. 

The  rout  of  the  Germans  at  Lagnicourt,  after  what  they  believed 
to  have  been  a  successful  attack,  will  ever  be  one  of  the  striking 
pictures  of  the  war.  Repulsed  and  running  for  their  own  trenches, 
they  were  trapped  by  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  which  had  been 
built  with  such  great  strength  and  thickness  in  front  of  them.  The 
boast  of  the  Hindenburg  line  had  been  its  belts  of  protective  v/ire. 

Caught  witliin  the  meshes  of  this  wire,  the  German  guardsmen 
screamed  madly  for  help  and  guidance.  Some,  like  trapped  rabbits, 
scurried  up  and  down  the  outer  barrier,  searching  in  vain  for  open- 
ings. The  British  troops  meantime  had  the  greatest  opportunity  for 
open,  field  rifle  shooting  since  the  battle  of  the  Marne.  Lying  flat 
upon  the  ground,  they  poured  bullets  into  the  panic-stricken,  gray- 
coated  Germans  until  each  man  had  fired  a  full  100  rounds. 

While  this  was  going  on  the  British  field  guns  came  into  play 
with  a  shrapnel  barrage  fire  which  completed  the  demolition  of  the 
entrapped  enemy.  It  was  little  wonder  that  later  1,500  German  dead 
could  be  counted,  or  that  400  guardsmen  surrendered  with  upheld 
hands  and  emotional  cries  of  "Kamerad!" 

FRENCH   CONTINUE  ADVANCE  IN  APRIL,   1917 

The  French  under  General  Nivelle  continued  their  victorious 
advance  on  tlie  Soissons-Craonne  line  April  18,  crushing  the  German 
resistance  along  a  front  of  tliirty-five  miles,  and  raising  the  total  of 
German  prisoners  taken  during  the  movement  to  17,000.  Seventy- 
five  guns,  including  a  number  of  heavy  siege  pieces,  were  captured. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

GEN.  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

American  Operations  in  France  Described  hy  the  Gommamder-in- 
Chief — Glowing  Tribute  to  His  M&n. 

A  remarkable  summary  of  the  operations  of  the  American  Expe- 
ditionary Force  in  France  from  the  date  of  its  organization,  May  26, 
1917,  to  the  signing  of  the  armistice  November  11,  1918,  was  cabled 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  by  General  Pershing  on  November  20,  1918. 
His  account  of  the  active  military  operations  was  as  follows: 

COMBAT    OPERATIONS 

During  our  period  of  training  in  the  trenches  some  of  our  divisions  had 
engaged  the  enemy  in  local  combats,  the  most  important  of  which  was  Seicheprey 
by  the  26th  on  April  20,  1918,  in  the  Toul  sector,  but  none  had  participated  in  action 
as  a  unit  The  1st  Division,  which  had  passed  through  the  preliminary  stages  of 
training,  had  gone  to  the  trenches  for  its  first  period  of  instruction  at  the  end 
of  October,  and  by  March  21,  when  the  German  offensive  in  Picardy  began,  we 
had  four  divisions  with  experience  in  the  trenches,  all  of  which  were  equal  to  any 
demands  of  battle  action.  The  crisis  which  this  offensive  developed  was  such 
that  our  occupation  of  an  American  sector  must  be  postponed. 

On  March  28  I  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Marshal  Foch,  who  had  been  agreed 
upon  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Allied  Armies,  all  of  our  forces  to  be  used  as 
he  might  decide.  At  his  request  the  1st  Division  was  transferred  from  the  Toul 
sector  to  a  position  in  reserve  at  Chaxmiont  en  Vexin.  As  German  superiority  in 
numbers  required  prompt  action,  an  agreement  was  reached  at  the  Abbeville  confer- 
ence of  the  allied  Premiers  and  commanders  and  myself  on  May  2  by  which  British 
shipping  was  to  transport  ten  American  divisions  to  the  British  Army  area,  where 
they  were  to  be  trained  and  equipped  and  additional  British  shipping  was  to  be 
provided  for  as  many  divisions  as  possible  for  use  elsewhere. 

On  April  26  the  1st  Division  had  gone  into  the  line  in  the  Montdidier  salient 
on  the  Picardy  battle-front.  Tactics  had  been  suddenly  revolutionized  to  those 
of  open  warfare,  and  our  men,  confident  of  the  results  of  their  training,  were 
eager  for  the  test.  On  the  morning  of  May  28  this  division  attacked  the  command- 
ing German  position  in  its  front,  taking  with  splendid  dash  the  town  of  Cantigny 
and  all  other  objectives,  which  were  organized  and'  held  steadfastly  against  vicious 
counterattacks  and  galling  artillery  fire.  Although  local,  this  brilliant  action 
had  an  electrical  effect,  as  it  demonstrated  our  fighting  qualities  under  extreme 
battle  conditions,  and  also  that  the  enemy's  troops  were  not  altogether  invincible. 

The  German  Aisne  offensive,  which  bega.n  on  May  27,  had  advanced  rapidly 
toward  the  River  Marne  and  Paris,  and  the  Allies  faced  a  crisis  equally  as  grave 
as  that  of  the  Picardy  offensive  in  March.  Again  every  available  man  was  placed 
at  Marshal  Foch's  disposal,  and  the  3d  Division,  which  had  just  com.e  from  its 
preliminary   training   in   the   trenches,   was  hurried   to   the  Marne.      Its   motorized 

461 


GEN.  PERSRING'S  OWN  STORY 

machine-gun  battalion  preceded  the  other  units  and  successfully  held  the  bridgehead 
at  the  Marne,  opposite  Chateau-Thierry.  The  2d  Division,  in  reserve  near 
Montdidier,  was  sent  by  motor  trucks  and  other  available  transport  to  check  the 
progress  of  the  enemy  toward  Paris.  Tlie  division  attacked  and  retook  the  town 
and  railroad  station  at  Bouresches  and  sturdily  held  its  ground  against  the  enemy's 
best  guard  divisions.  In  the  battle  of  Belleau  "Wood,  which  followed,  our  men 
proved  their  superiority  and  gained  a  strong  tactical  position,  with  far  greater 
loss  to  the  enemy  than  to  ourselves.  On  July  1,  before  the  Second  was  relieved, 
it  captured  the  village  of  Vaux  with  most  splendid  precision. 

Meanwhile  our  2d  Corps,  under  Major-General  George  W.  Read,  had  been 
organized  for  the  command  of  our  divisions  with  the  British,  which  were  held 
back  in  training  areas  or  assigned  to  second-line  defences.  Fiv^  of  the  ten  divisions 
were  withdrawn  from  the  British  area  in  June,  three  to  relieve  divisions  in  Lorraine 
and  in  the  Vosges  and  two  to  the  Paris  area  to  join  the  group  of  American  divisions 
which  stood  between  the  city  and  any  further  advance  of  the  enemy  in  that 
direction. 

AMERICAN   DIVISIONS    IN  THE  FIGHTING 

The  great  June,  July  troop  movement  from  the  States  was  well  under  way,  and, 
although  these  troops  were  to  be  given  some  preliminary  training  before  being 
put  into  action,  their  very  presence  warranted  the  use  of  all  the  older  divisions  in 
the  confidence  that  we  did  not  lack  reserves.  Elements  of  the  42d  Division  were 
in  the  line  east  of  Rheims  against  the  German  offensive  of  July  15,  and  held  their 
ground  unflinchingly.  On  the  right  flank  of  this  offensive  four  companies  of  the 
28th  Division  were  in  position  in  face  of  the  advancing  waves  of  the  German 
infantry.  The  3d  Division  was  holding  the  bank  of  the  Marne  from  the  bend 
east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Surm61in  to  the  west  of  Mezy,  opposite  Chateau-Thierry, 
where  a  large  force  of  German  infantry  sought  to  force  a  passage  under  support 
of  powerful  artillery  concentrations  and  under  cover  of  smoke  screens.  A  single 
regiment  of  the  3d  wrote  one  of  the  most  brilliant  i)ages  in  our  military  annals  on 
this  occasion.  It  prevented  the  crossing  at  certain  points  on  its  front  while,  on 
either  flank,  the  Germans,  who  had  gained  a  footing,  pressed  forward.  Our  men, 
firing  in  three  directions,  met  the  German  attacks  with  counterattacks  at  critical 
points  and  succeeded  in  throwing  two  German  divisions  into  complete  confusion, 
capturing  600  prisoners. 

The  great  force  of  the  German  Chateau-Thierry  offensive  established  the  deep 
Marne  salient,  but  the  enemy  was  taking  chances,  and  the  vulnerability  of  this 
pocket  to  attack  might  be  turned  to  his  disadvantage.  Seizing  this  opportunity 
to  support  my  conviction,  every  division  with  any  sort  of  training  was  made  avail- 
able for  use  in  a  counteroffensive.  The  place  of  honor  in  the  thrust  toward  Soissons 
on  July  18  was  given  to  our  1st  and  2d  Divisions  ia  company  with  chosen  French 
divisions.  Without  the  usual  brief  warning  of  a  preliminary  bombardment,  the 
massed  French  and  American  artillery,  firing  by  the  map,  laid  down  its  rolling 
barrage  at  dawn  while  the  infantry  began  its  charge.  The  tactical  handling  of 
our  troops  under  these  trying  conditions  was  excellent  throughout  the  action.  The 
enemy  brought  up  large  numbers  of  reserves  and  made  a  stubborn  defense,  both 
with  machine  guns  and  artillery,  but  through  five  days'  fighting  the  1st  Division 
continued  to  advance  until  it  had  gained  the  heights  above  Soissons  and  captured 
the  village  of  Berzy-le-Sec.  The  2d  Division  took  Beau  Repaire  farm  and  Vlerzy 
in  a  very  rapid  advance  and  reached  a  position  in  front  of  Tigny  at  the  end  of 
its  second  day.  These  two  divisions  captured  7,000  prisoners  and  over  100  pieces 
of  artillery. 

The  26th  Division,  which,  with  a  French  division,  was  under  command  of  our  lat 
Corps,   acted  as   a  pivot  of  the  movement  toward   Soissons.     On   the   18  th   it  took 

462 


GE^\  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

the  villag-e  of  Torcy  »?hile  the  3d  Division  was  crossing  the  Marne  in  pursuit  of 
the  retiring  enemy.  The  26th  attacked  again  on  the  21st,  and  the  enemy  withdrew 
past  the  Chateau-Thierry-Soissons  road.  The  3d  Division,  continuing  its  progress, 
took  the  heights  of  Mont  St.  Pere  and  the  villages  of  Chart^ves  and  Jaulgonne  in 
the  face  of  both  machine  gun  and  artillery  fire. 

On  the  24th,  after  the  Germans  had  fallen  back  from  Trugny  and  Epieds, 
our  42d  Division,  which  had  been  brought  over  from  the  Champagne,  relieved  the 
Twenty-sixth,  and  fighting  its  way  through  the  Foret  de  Fere,  overwhelmed  the 
nest  of  machine  guns  i»  its  path.  By  the  27th  it  had  reached  the  Ourcq,  whence 
the  3d  and  4th  Divisions  were  already  advancing,  while  the  French  divisions  with 
which  we  were  cooperating  were  moving  forward  at  other  points. 

The  3d  Division  had  made  its  advance  into  Roncheres  Wood  on  the  29th  and 
was  relieved  for  rest  by  a  brigade  of  the  Thirty-second.  The  Forty-second  and 
Thirty-second  undertook  the  task  of  conquering  the  heights  beyond  Cierges,  the 
Forty-second  capturing  Sergj'  and  the  thirty-second  capturing  Hill  230,  both 
American  divisions  joining  in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  the  Vesle,  and  thus  the 
operation  of  reducing  the  salient  was  finished.  Meanwhile  the  Forty-second  was 
relieved  by  the  Fourth  at  Chery-Chartreuve,  and  the  Thirty-second  by  the  Twenty- 
eighth,  while  the  77th  Division  took  up  a  position  on  the  Vesle.  The  operations 
of  these  divisions  on  the  Vesle  were  under  the  3d  Corps,  Maj.-Gen.  Robert  li. 
Bullard  commanding. 

BATTLE    OF    ST.    MIHIEL 

With  the  reduction  of  the  Marne  salient,  we  could  look  forward  to  the  concentra- 
tion of  our  divisions  in  our  own  zone.  In  view  of  the  forth-coming  operation 
against  the  St.  Mihiel  salient,  which  had  long  been  planned  as  our  first  offensive 
action  on  a  large  scale,  the  First  Army  was  organized  on  August  10  under  my 
personal  command.  While  American  units  had  held  different  divisional  and  corps 
sectors  along  the  western  front,  there  had  not  been  up  to  this  time,  for  obvious 
reasons,  a  distinct  American  sector ;  but,  in  view  of  the  important  parts  the  Amer- 
ican forces  were  now  to  play,  it  was  necessary  to  take  over  a  permanent  portion 
of  the  line.  Accordingly,  on  August  30,  the  line  beginning  at  Port  sur  Seille,  east 
of  the  Moselle  and  extending  to  the  west  through  St.  Mihiel,  thence  north  to  a 
point  opposite  Verdun,  was  placed  under  my  command.  The  American  sector  was 
afterward  extended  across  the  Meuse  to  the  western  edge  of  the  Argonne  Forest, 
and  included  the  2d  Colonial  French,  which  held  the  point  of  the  salient,  and  the 
17th  French  Corps,  which  occupied  the  heights  above  Verdun. 

The  preparation  for  a  complicated  operation  against  the  formidable  defenses 
in  front  of  us  included  the  assembling  of  divisions  and  of  corps  and  army  artillery, 
transport,  aircraft,  tanks,  ambulances,  the  location  of  hospitals,  and  the  molding 
together  of  all  of  the  elements  of  a  great  modem  army  with  its  own  railroads, 
supplied  directly  by  our  own  Sei"vice  of  Supply.  The  concentration  for  this  opera- 
tion, which  was  to  be  a  surprise,  involved  the  movement,  mostly  at  night,  of 
approximately  600,000  troops,  and  required  for  its  success  the  most  careful  attention 
to  every  detail. 

The  French  were  generous  in  giving  us  assistance  in  corps  and  army  artillery, 
with  its  personnel,  and  we  were  confident  from  the  start  of  our  superiority  over 
the  enemy  in  guns  of  all  calibers.  Our  heavy  guns  were  able  to  reach  Metz  and 
to  interfere  seriously  with  German  rail  movements.  The  French  Independent  Air 
Force  was  placed  under  my  command  which,  together  with  the  British  bombing 
squadrons  and^our  air  forces,  gave  us  the  largest  assembly  of  aviation  that  had 
ever  been  engaged  in  one  operation  on  the  Western  front. 

From  Les  Eparges  around  the  nose  of  the  salient  at  St.  Mihiel  to  the  Moselle 
River  the  line  was  roughly  forty  miles  long  and  situated  on  commanding  ground 

463 


GEN.  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

greatly  strengthened  by  artificial  defenses.  Our  1st  Corps  (82d,  90th,  6th  and  2d 
Divisions),  under  command  of  Major-Gen.  Hunter  Liggett,  restrung  its  right  on 
Pont-a-Mousson,  with  its  left  joining  our  3d  Corps  (the  89th,  42d  and  1st  Divisions), 
under  Major-Gen.  Joseph  T.  Dickman,  in  line  to  Xivray,  were  to  swing  toward 
Vigneulles  on  the  pivot  of  the  Moselle  River  for  the  initial  assault.  From  Xivray 
to  Mouilly  the  2d  Colonial  French  Corps  was  in  line  in  the  center,  and  our  5th 
Corps,  under  command  of  Major-Gen.  George  H.  Cameron,  with  our  26th  Division 
and  a  French  division  at  the  western  base  of  the  salient,  were  to  attack  three 
different  hills — Les  Eparges,  Combres  and  Amaramthe.  Our  1st  Corps  had  in 
reserve  the  7Sth  Division,  our  4th  Corps  the  3d  Division,  and  our  First  Army 
the  35th  and  01st  Divisions,  with  the  80th  and  33d  available.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  our  corps  organizations  are  very  elastic,  and  that  we  have  at  no  time 
nad  permanent  assignments  of  divisions  to  corps. 

After  four  hours'  artillery  preparations,  the  seven  American  divisions  in  the 
front  line  advanced  at  5  a.  m.  on  September  12,  assisted  by  a  limited  number 
of  tanks  manned  partly  by  Americans  and  partly  by  French.  These  divisions, 
accompanied  by  groups  of  wire  cutters  and  others  armed  with  bangalore  torpedoes, 
went  through  the  successive  bands  of  barbed  wire  that  protected  the  enemy's  front 
line  and  support  trenches,  in  irresistible  waves  on  schedule  time,  breaking  down 
all  defense  of  an  enemy  demoralized  by  the  great  volume  of  our  artillery  fire 
and  our  sudden  approach  out  of  the  fog. 

Our  1st  Corps  advanced  to  Thiaucourt,  while  our  4th  Corps  curved  back  to  the 
southwest  through  Nonsard.  The  2d  Colonial  French  Corps  made  the  slight  advance 
required  of  it  on  very  difficult  ground,  and  the  5th  Corps  took  its  three  ridges  and 
repulsed  a  counterattack.  A  rapid  march  brought  reserve  regiments  of  a  division 
of  the  5th  Corps  into  Vigneulles  in  the  early  morning,  where  it  linked  up  with 
patrols  of  our  4th  Corps,  closing  the  salient  and  forming  a  new  line  west  of  Thiau- 
court to  Vigneulles  and  beyond  Fresnes-en-Woevre.  At  the  cost  of  only  7,000 
casualties,  mostly  light,  we  had  taken  16,000  prisoners  and  443  guns,  a  great 
quantity  of  material,  released  the  inhabitants  of  many  villages  from  enemy  domina- 
tion, and  established  our  lines  in  a  position  to  threaten  Metz.  This  signal  success 
of  the  American  First  Army  in  its  first  offensive  was  of  prime  importance.  The 
Allies  found  they  had  a  formidable  army  to  aid  them,  and  the  enemy  learned 
finally  that  he  had  one  to  reckon  with. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE     OFFENSIVE,    FIRST    PHASE 

On  the  day  after  we  had  taken  the  St.  Mihiel  salient,  much  of  our  corps  and 
army  artillery  which  had  operated  at  St.  Mihiel,  and  our  divisions  in  reserve  at 
other  points,  were  already  on  the  move  toward  the  area  back  of  the  line  between 
the  Meuse  River  and  the  western  edge  of  the  forest  of  Argonne.  With  the  exception 
of  St.  Mihiel,  the  old  German  front  line  from  Switzerland  to  the  east  of  Rheims 
was  still  intact.  In  the  general  attack  all  along  the  line,  the  operation  assigned  the 
American  Army  as  the  hinge  of  this  allied  offensive  was  directed  toward  the 
important  railroad  communications  of  the  German  armies  through  Mfzieres  and 
Sedan.  The  enemy  must  hold  fast  to  this  part  of  his  lines  or  the  withdrawal  of 
his  forces  with  four  years'  accujnulation  of  plants  and  material  would  be 
dangerously  imperiled. 

The  German  Army  had  as  yet  shown  no  demoralization,  and,  while  the  mass  of 
Its  troops  had  suffered  in  morale,  its  first-class  divisions,  and  notably  its  machine- 
gun  defense,  were  exhibiting  remarkable  tactical  efficiency  as  well  as  courage.  The 
German  General  Staff  was  fully  aware  of  the  consequences  of  a  success  on  the 
Meuse-Argonne  line.  Certain  that  he  would  do  everything  in  his  power  to  oppose 
MB,  the  action  was  planned  with  as  much  secrecy  as  possible  and  was  undertaken 

464 


GEN.  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

with  the  determination  to  use  all  our  divisions  in  forcing  decision.  "We  expected 
to  draw  the  best  German  divisions  to  our  front  and  to  consume  them  while  the 
enemy  was  held  under  grave  apprehension  lest  our  attack  should  break  his  line, 
which  it  was  our  firm  purpose  to  do. 

Our  right  flank  was  protected  by  the  Meuse,  while  our  left  embraced  the 
Argonne  Forest,  whose  ravines,  hills,  and  elaborate  defense,  screened  by  dense 
thickets,  had  been  generally  considered  impregnable.  Our  order  of  battle  from 
right  to  left  was  the  3d  Corps  from  the  Meuse  to  Malancourt,  with  the  33d,  80th 
and  4th  Divisions  in  line,  and  the  3d  Division  as  corps  reserve ;  the  5th  Corps  from 
Malancourt  to  Vauquois,  with  79th,  87th  and  91st  Divisions  in  line,  and  the  32d 
in  corps  reserve,  and  the  1st  Corps,  from  Vauquois  to  Vienne  le  Chateau,  with  35th, 
28th  and  77th  Divisions  in  line,  and  the  92d  in  corps  reserve.  The  army  reserve 
consisted  of  the  1st,  29th  and  82d  Divisions. 

On  the  night  of  September  25  our  troops  quietly  took  the  place  of  the  French, 
who  thinly  held  the  line  of  this  sector,  which  had  long  been  inactive.  In  the 
attack  which  began  on  the  26th  we  drove  through  the  barbed  wire  entajiglements 
and  the  sea  of  shell  craters  across  No  Man's  Land,  mastering  all  the  first-line 
defences.  Continuing  on  the  27th  and  28th,  against  machine  guns  and  artillery 
of  an  increasing  number  of  enemy  reserve  divisions,  we  penetrated  to  a  depth 
of  from  three  to  seven  miles  and  took  the  village  of  Montfaucon  and  its  com- 
manding hill  and  Exermont,  Gercourt,  Cuisy,  Septsarges,  Malancourt,  lA'oiry, 
Epinonville,  Charpentry,  Very  and  other  villages.  Bast  of  the  Meuse  one  of  our 
divisions,  which  was  with  the  2d  Colonial  French  Corps,  captured  Marcheville  and 
Rieville,  giving  further  protection  to  the  flank  of  our  main  body.  We  had  taken 
10,000  prisoners,  we  had  gained  our  point  of  forcing  the  battle  into  the  open,  and 
were  prepared  for  the  enemy's  reaction,  which  was  bound  to  come,  as  he  had 
good  roads  and  ample  railroad  facilities  for  bringing  up  his  artillery  and  reserves. 

In  the  chill  rain  of  dark  nights  our  engineers  had  to  build  new  roads  across 
spongy  shell-torn  areas,  repair  broken  roads  beyond  No  Man's  Land,  and  build 
bridges.  Our  gunners,  with  no  thought  of  sleep,  put  their  shoulders  to  wheels 
and  drag-ropes  to  bring  their  guns  through  the  mire  in  support  of  the  infantry,  now 
under  the  increasing  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery.  Our  attack  had  taken  the 
enemy  by  surprise,  but  quickly  recovering  himself,  he  began  to  fire  counterattacks 
in  strong  force,  supported  by  heavy  bombardments,  with  large  quantities  of  gas. 
From  September  28  until  October  4  we  maintained  the  offensive  against  patches 
of  woods  defended  by  snipers  and  continuous  lines  of  machine  guns,  and  pushed 
forward  our  guns  and  transport,  seizing  strategical  points  in  preparation  for 
further  attacks. 

OTHER    UNTTS     WITH    AIxLIES 

Other  divisions  attached  to  the  allied  armies  were  doing  their  part.  It  was 
the  fortune  of  our  2d  Corps,  composed  of  the  27th  and  30th  Divisions,  which  had 
remained  with  the  British,  to  have  a  place  of  honor  in  cooperation  with  the 
Australian  Corps  on  September  29  and  October  1  in  the  assault  on  the  Hindenburg 
Line  where  the  St.  Quentin  Canal  passes  through  a  tunnel  under  a  ridge.  The 
30th  Division  speedily  broke  through  the  main  line  of  defense  for  all  its  objectives, 
while  the  27th  pushed  on  impetuously  through  the  main  line  until  some  of  its 
elements  reached  Gouy.  In  the  midst  of  the  maze  of  trenches  and  shell  craters 
and  under  crossfire  from  machine  guns  the  other  elements  fought  desperately 
against  odds.  In  this  and  in  later  actions,  from  October  6  to  October  19,  our 
2d  Corps  captured  over  6,000  prisoners  and  advanced  over  thirteen  miles.  The 
spirit  and  aggressiveness  of  these  divisions  iiave  been  highly  praised  by  the  British 
Army  commander  under  whom  they  served. 

465 


GEN.  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

On  October  2-9  our  2d  and  36th  Divisions  were  sent  to  assist  the  Blench  in 
an  important  attack  against  the  old  German  positions  before  Rheims.  The  2d 
conquered  the  complicated  defense  worlts  on  their  front  against  a  persistent  defense 
worthy  of  the  grimmest  period  of  trench  warfare  and  attacked  the  strongly  held 
•wooded  hill  of  Blanc  Mont,  which  they  captured  in  a  second  assault,  sweeping 
over  it  with  consummate  dash  and  skill.  This  division  then  repulsed  strong  coun- 
terattacks before  the  village  and  cemetery  of  Ste.  Etienne  and  took  the  town, 
forcing  the  Germans  to  fall  back  from  before  Rheims  and  yield  positions  they  had 
held  since  September,  1914.  On  October  9  the  36t7i  Division  relieved  the  2d,  and 
in  its  first  experience  under  flre  withstood  very  severe  artillery  bombardment  and 
rapidly  took  up  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,   now  retiring  behind  the  Aisne. 

MEUSB-ARQONNB    OFFENSIVE,    SECOND    PHASE 

The  allied  progress  elsewhere  cheered  the  efforts  of  our  men  in  this  crucial 
contest,  as  the  German  command  threw  in  more  and  more  first-class  troops  to  stop 
our  advance.  We  made  steady  headway  in  the  almost  impenetrable  and  strongly 
held  Argonne  Forest,  for,  despite  this  reinforcement,  it  was  our  army  that  was 
doing  the  driving.  Our  aircraft  was  increasing  in  skill  and  numbers  and  forcing 
the  issue,  and  our  infantry  and  artillery  were  improving  rapidly  with  each  new 
experience.  The  replacements  fresh  from  home  were  put  into  exhausted  divisions 
with  little  time  for  training,  but  they  had  the  advantage  of  serving  beside  men 
who  knew  their  business  and  who  had  almost  become  veterans  overnight.  The 
enemy  had  taken  every  advantage  of  the  terrain,  which  especially  favored  the 
defense  by  a  prodigal  use  of  machine  guns  manned  by  highly  trained  veterans  and 
by  using  his  artillery  at  short  ranges.  In  the  face  of  such  strong  frontal  posi- 
tions we  should  have  been  unable  to  accomplish  and  progress  according  to  pre- 
viously accepted  standards,  but  I  had  every  confidence  in  our  aggressive  tactics 
and  the  courage  of  our  troops. 

On  October  4  the  attack  was  renewed  all  along  our  front.  The  3d  Corps,  tilt- 
ing to  the  left,  followed  the  Brieulles-Cunel  Road ;  our  5th  Corps  took  Gesnes,  while 
the  1st  Corps  advanced  for  over  two  miles  along  the  irregular  valley  of  the  Aire 
River  and  in  the  wooded  hills  of  the  Argonne  that  bordered  the  river,  used  by 
the  enemy  with  all  his  art  and  weapons  of  defense.  This  sort  of  fighting  continued 
against  an  enemy  striving  to  hold  every  foot  of  ground  and  whose  very  strong  coun- 
terattacks challenged  us  at  every  point.  On  the  7th  the  1st  Corps  captured  Chatel- 
Ch6n6ry  and  continued  along  the  river  to  Cornay.  On  the  east  of  the  Meuse  sector 
one  of  the  two  divisions  cooperating  with  the  French,  captured  Consenvoye  and 
the  Haumont  Woods.  On  the  9th  the  5th  Corps,  in  its  progress  up  the  Aire,  took 
F16ville,  and  the  3d  Corps,  which  had  continuous  fighting  against  odds,  was  work- 
ing its  way  through  Briueulles  and  Cunel.  On  the  10th  we  had  cleared  the  Argonne 
Forest  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  constitute  a  second  army,  and  on  October  9  the  im- 
mediate command  of  the  First  Army  was  turned  over  to  Lieut.-Gen.  Hunter 
Liggett.  The  command  of  the  Second  Army,  whose  divisions  occupied  a  sector  in 
the  Woevre,  was  given  to  Lieut.-Gen.  Robert  L.  Bullard,  who  had  been  commander 
of  the  1st  Division  and  then  of  the  3d  Corps.  Major-Gen.  Dlckman  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  command  of  the  1st  Corps,  while  the  5th  Corps  was  placed  under 
Major-Gen.  Charles  P.  Summerall,  who  had  recently  commanded  the  1st  Division. 
Major-Gen.  John  L.  Hines,  who  had  gone  rapidly  up  from  regimental  to  division 
commander,  was  assigned  to  the  3d  Corps.  These  four  officers  had  been  in  France 
from  the  early  days  of  the  expedition  and  had  learned  their  lessons  in  the  school 
of  practical  warfare. 

Our  constant  pressure  against  the  enemy  brought  day  by  day  more  prisoners, 
mostly   survivors   from  machine-gun  nests   captured   in  fighting  at  close   quarters. 

466 


GEN,  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

On  October  18  there  was  very  fierce  fighting  in  the  Caures  Woods  east  of  the 
Meuse  and  in  the  Ormont  Woods.  On  the  14th  1st  Corps  took  St.  Juvin,  and  the 
5th  Corps,  in  hand-to-hand  encounters,  entered  the  formidable  Kriemhllde  line, 
where  the  enemy  had  hoped  to  check  us  indefinitely.  Later  the  5th  Corps  pene- 
trated further  the  Kriemhilde  line,  and  the  1st  Corps  took  Champignuelles  and 
the  important  town  of  Grandpre.  Our  dogged  oftensive  was  wearing  down  the 
enemy,  who  continued  desperately  to  throw  his  best  troops  against  us,  thus  weak- 
ening his  line  in  front  of  our  Allies  and  making  their  advance  less  difficult 

DIVISIONS   IN  BELGIUM 

Meanwhile  we  were  not  only  able  to  continue  the  battle,  but  our  37th  and 
91st  Divisions  were  hastily  withdrawn  from  our  front  and  dispatched  to  help 
the  French  Army  in  Belgium.  Detraining  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ypres,  these 
divisions  advanced  by  rapid  stages  to  the  fighting  line  and  were  assigned  to  ad- 
jacent French  corps.  On  October  31,  in  continuation  of  the  Flanders  offensive, 
they  attacked  and  methodically  broke  down  all  enemy  resistance.  On  Nov.  3  the 
37th  had  completed  its  mission  in  dividing  the  enemy  across  the  Escaut  River 
and  firmly  established  itself  along  the  east  bank  included  in  the  division  zone 
of  action.  By  a  clever  flanking  movement  troops  of  the  91st  Division  captured 
Spitaals  Bosschen,  a  difficult  wood  extending  across  the  central  part  of  the  divi- 
sion sector,  reached  the  Escaut,  and  penetrated  into  the  town  of  Audenarde.  These 
divisions  received  high  commendation  from  their  corps  commanders  for  their  dash 
and   energy, 

MEtrSB-ARGONNE LAST    PHASE 

On  the  23d  the  3d  and  5th  Corps  pushed  northward  to  the  level  of  Bantheville. 
While  we  continued  to  press  forward  and  throw  back  the  enemy's  violent  counter- 
attacks with  great  loss  to  him,  a  regrouping  of  our  forces  was  under  way  for  the 
final  assault.  Evidences  of  loss  of  morale  by  the  enemy  gave  our  men  more  con- 
fidence in  attack  and  more  fortitude  in  enduring  the  fatigue  of  incessant  effort 
and  the  hardships  of  very  inclement  weather. 

With  comparatively  well-rested  divisions,  the  final  advance  in  the  Meuse- 
Argonne  front  was  begun  on  November  1.  Our  increased  artillery  force  acquitted 
itself  magnificently  in  support  of  the  advance,  and  the  enemy  broke  before  the 
determined  infantry,  which,  by  its  persistent  fighting  of  the  past  weeks  and  the 
dash  of  this  attack,  had  overcome  his  will  to  resist.  The  3d  Corps  took  Ancrevlle, 
Doulcon  and  Andevanne,  and  the  5th  Corps  took  Landres  et  St.  Georges  and  passed 
through  successive  lines  of  resistance  to  Bayonville  and  Chennery.  On  the  2d 
the  1st  Corps  joined  in  the  movement,  which  now  became  an  impetuous  onslaught 
that  could  not  be  stayed. 

On  the  3d  advance  troops  surged  forward  in  pursuit,  some  by  motor  trucks, 
while  the  artillery  pressed  along  the  country  roads  close  behind.  The  1st  Corps 
reached  Authe  and  Chatillon-Sur-Bar,  the  5th  Corps,  Fosse  and  Nouart,  and  the 
3d  Corps,  Halles,  penetrating  the  enemy's  lines  to  a  depth  of  twelve  miles.  Our 
large-caliber  guns  had  advanced  and  were  skilfully  brought  into  position  to  fire 
■upon  the  important  lines  at  Montmedy,  Longuyon  and  Conflans.  Our  3d  Corps 
crossed  the  Meuse  on  the  5th  and  the  other  corps,  in  the  full  confidence  that  the 
day  was  theirs,  eagerly  cleared  the  way  of  machine  guns  as  they  swept  north- 
ward, maintaining  complete  coordination  throughout.  On  the  6th,  a  division  of 
the  1st  Corps  reached  a  point  on  the  Meuse  opposite  Sedan,  twenty-five  miles 
from  our  line  of  departure.  The  strategical  goal  which  was  our  highest  hope 
was  gained.  We  had  cut  the  enemy's  main  line  of  communications,  and  nothing 
but  surrender  or  an  armistice  could  save  his  army  from  complete  disaster. 

In  all  forty  enemy  divisions  had  been  used  against  us  in  the  Meuse-Argonne 
fcattle.  Between  September  26  and  November  6  we  took  26,059  prisoners  and  468 
guns  on  this  front.  Our  divisions  engaged  were  'the  1st,  2d,  3d,  4th,  5th,  26th, 
28th,  29th,  32d  33d,  35th,  37th,  42d,  77th,  78th,  79th,  SOtii,  82d,  89th,  90th  and  91st. 
Many  of  our  divisions  remained  in  line  for  a  length  of  time  that  requires  nerves  of 
steel,  while  others  were  sent  in  again  after  only  a  few  days  of  rest.  The  1st,  5th, 
26th,  77th,  80th,  89th,  and  90th  were  in  the  line  twice.  Although  some  of  the 
divisions  were  fighting  their  first  battle,  they  soon  became  eqtial  to  the  best. 

OPERATIONS   EAST    OF   THE    MEUSE 

On  the  three  days  preceding  November  10,  the  3d,  the  2d  Colonial  and  the 
17th  French  Corps  fought  a  difficult  struggle  through  the  Meuse  Hills  south  of 
Stenay   and    forced   the   enemy   into   the  plain.      Meanwhile  my   plans   for  further 

467 


GEN.  PERSHING'S  OWN  STORY 

use  of  the  American  forces  contemplated  an  advance  between  the  Meuse  and  the 
Moselle  in  the  direction  of  Longwy  by  the  First  Army,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
the  Second  Army  should  assure  the  offensive  toward  the  rich  coal  fields  of  Briey. 
These  operations  were  to  be  followed  by  an  offensive  toward  Chateau-Salins  east 
of  the  Moselle,  thus  isolating  Metz.  Accordingly,  attacks  on  the  American  front 
had  been  ordered,  and  that  of  the  Second  Army  was  in  progress  on  the  morning  of 
November  11,  when  instructions  were  received  that  hostilities  should  cease  at 
11  o'clock  A,  M. 

At  this  moment  the  line  of  the  American  sector,  from  right  to  left,  began  at 
Port-sur-Seille,  thence  across  the  Moselle  to  Vandieres  and  through  the  Woevre 
to  Bezonvaux,  in  the  foothills  of  the  Meuse,  thence  along  to  the  foothills  and 
through  the  northern  edge  of  the  Woevre  forests  to  the  Meuse  at  Mouzay,  thence 
along  the  Meuse  connecting  with  the  French  under  Sedan. 

RELATIONS     WITH     THE     ALLIES 

Cooperation  among  the  Allies  has  at  all  times  been  most  cordial.  A  far  greater 
effort  has  been  put  forth  by  the  allied  armies  and  staffs  to  assist  us  than  could 
have  been  expected.  The  French  Government  and  Army  have  always  stood  ready 
to  furnish  us  with  supplies,  equipment  and  transportation  and  to  aid  us  in  every 
way.  In  the  towns  and  hamlets  wherever  our  troops  have  been  stationed  or 
billeted  the  French  people  have  everywhere  received  them  more  as  relatives  and  in- 
timate friends  than  as  soldiers  of  a  foreign  army.  For  these  things  words  are  quite 
inadequate  to  express  our  gratitude.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  relations 
growing  out  of  our  associations  here  assure  a  permanent  friendship  between  the 
two  peoples.  Although  we  have  not  been  so  intimately  associated  with  the  people 
of  Great  Britain,  yet  their  troops  and  ours  when  thrown  together  have  always 
warmly  fraternized.  The  reception  of  those  of  our  forces  who  have  passed  through 
England  and  of  those  who  have  been  stationed  there  has  always  been  enthusiastic. 
Altogether  it  has  been  deeply  impressed  upon  us  that  the  ties  of  language  and 
blood  bring  the  British  and  ourselves   together  completely  and  inseparably. 

STRENGTH 

There  are  in  Europe  altogether,  including  a  regiment  and  some  sanitary  units 
with  the  Italian  Army  and  the  organizations  at  Murmansk,  also  Including  those 
en  route  from  the  States,  approximately  2,053,347  men,  less  our  losses.  Of  this  total 
there  are  in  France  1,338,169  combatant  troops.  Forty  divisions  have  arrived  of 
which  the  infantry  personnel  of  ten  have  been  used  as  replacements,  leaving  thirty 
divisions  now  in  France  organized  into  three  armies  of  three  corps  each. 

The  losses  of  the  Americans  up  to  November  18  are:  Killed  and  wounded, 
36.145;  died  of  disease,  14,811;  deaths  unclassified,  2,204;  wounded,  179,625; 
prisoners,  2,163;  missing,  1,160.  We  have  captured  about  44,000  prisoners  and 
1,400  guns,  howitzers  and  trench  mortars. 

[General  Pershing  then  highly  praised  the  work  of  the  General  Staff,  the 
Service  of  Supply,  Medical  Corps,  Quartermaster  Department,  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment, Signal  Corps,  Engineer  Corps,  and  continued:] 

Our  aviators  have  no  equals  in  daring  or  in  fighting  ability,  and  have  left  a 
record  of  courageous  deeds  that  will  ever  remain  a  brilliant  page  in  the  annals 
of  our  army.  While  the  Tank  Corps  has  had  limited  opportunities,  its  personnel 
has  responded  gallantly  on  every  possible  occasion,  and  has  shown  courage  of 
the  highest  order. 

The  navy  in  European  waters  has  at  all  times  most  cordially  aided  the  army, 
and  it  is  most  gratifying  to  report  that  there  has  never  before  been  such  perfect 
cooperaton  between  these  two  branches  of  the  service. 

Finally,  I  pay  supreme  tribute  to  our  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  line.  When 
I  think  of  their  heroism,  their  patience  under  hardships,  their  unflinching  spirit 
of  offensive  acton,  I  am  filled  with  emotion  which  I  am  unable  to  express.  Their 
deeds  are  immortal,  and  they  have  earned  the  eternal  gratitude  of  our  country, 

I   am,  Mr.    Secretary,   very  respectfully, 

JOHN   J.    PERSHING, 
General,    Commander-in-Chief, 
American  Expeditionary  Forces. 
To  the  Secretary  of  War. 

468 


GHAPTBB  XXXI 

WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

American  Troops  on  All  Fronts — Changes  Come  Fast  and  Furious — r 
First  Eun  Cry  for  Peace — Virtue,  Vice  and  Violence — Austria 
Surrenders — Opens  Up  the  Dardanelles — Closing  Days  of  Hohen- 
zollern  Reign — Killing  of  Tisza — Terms  Prepared  for  Germany — 
Armistice  Signed  "by  Germany. 

AMERICAN  TROOPS  ON  ALL  FRONTS 

The  collapse  of  Russia  in  1917  had  released  vast  bodies  of  German 
tr«ops  for  service  in  France,  but  the  calamities  that  overtook  them  on 
the  French  front  were  so  destructive  that  insufficient  man  power  was 
left  to  take  care  of  the  southeastern  fronts,  so  that  Serbia  was  enabled 
to  institute  a  new  offensive,  and  with  the  aid  of  Greece,  in  a  few  days 
cut  Bulgaria  out  of  the  German  horde,  pressed  forward  in  Serbia,  and 
pushed  ahead  through  the  Balkan  regions.  Meanwhile  American 
strength  was  greatly  augumented  in  the  west  and  at  the  same  time 
American  troops  appeared  on  the  Murman  coast  in  the  north  and 
Siberia  on  the  Pacific  east,  on  the  Piave  front  in  Italy,  and  at  every 
other  point  where  hostile  strength  was  greatest  or  strategic  advantage 
was  to  be  gained  by  their  presence. 

Concurrently,  the  United  States  navy  swept  the  western  seas  of 
Europe  free  of  German  submarines.  Our  naval  forces  were  combined 
with  those  of  Great  Britain  as  the  sea  arm  of  a  united  command,  under 
the  joint  name  of  the  Grand  Fleet ;  and  American  troop  ships  landed 
newly  trained  American  soldiers  in  France  at  the  average  number  of 
about  250,000  a  month — over  2,200,000  in  little  more  than  a  year ;  at 
the  same  time  helping  to  reopen  in  safety  the  lanes  of  ocean  commerce 
by  which  the  trade  of  our  European  allies  was  fully  restored,  German 
ports  corked  tight,  and  Germany  thereby  thrown  back  absolutely  upon 
her  own  interior  resources.  Out  of  this  vigorous  and  abundant  Amer- 
ican action  emerged  the  conditions  that  insured  a  "Peace  of  Justice." 

These  things  were  the  quick  work  of  the  latter  part  of  1917  and 
the  campaigns  of  1918.  The  achievement  was  gigantic,  but  it  had  no 
effect  in  takng  attention  or  diverting  action  from  those  movements  that 
offered  at  once  an  advantage  to  our  common  cause,  while  disintegrating 
the  hoary  tyrannies  of  Central  and  Eastern  Europe. 

CHANGES  COME  FAST  AND  FURIOUS 

Events  in  the  field  reacted  with  powerful  effect  upon  autocratic 
Austria.  The  Austrian  throne  was  built  upon  the  backs  of  vassal 
states,  all  of  which  had  yielded  thousands  of  emigrants  to  this  country* 
and  these  transplanted  peoples,  having  found  freedom,  proceeded  to 

469 


WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

incite  the  countries  of  their  origin  to  throw  off  their  burdens  and  like 
Americans,  be  free  to  govern  themselves. 

The  moment  had  came  for  Bohemia,  Poland,  and  all  Czecho-Slav 
and  Jugo-Slav  peoples  to  rise.  The  United  States  Government,  in  full 
sympathy  with  their  yearnings,  had  received  their  representatives  at 
Washington,  had  furnished  funds  as  well  as  moral  support  to  their 
provisional  governments,  had  supported  an  independent  Czecho-Slav 
army  in  Eussia  with  American  reinforcements,  with  clothing,  arms, 
munitions,  and  supplies,  and  now,  at  exactly  the  right  juncture,  in 
August,  1918,  recognized  the  Czecho-Slav  as  a  cobelligerent  power  law- 
fully at  war  against  the  central  empires. 

FERDINAND  FALLS  FROM  THE  WAR  WAGON 

This  was  the  push  that  brought  the  break.  Germany  still  had  hef 
armies  intact  on  the  soil  of  other  countries,  and  was  a  consolidated 
force,  tired  though  not  beaten.  But  the  fat  and  filthy  "Caar" 
Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  sat  in  voluntary  exile,  eating  like  bread  the 
ashes  of  repentance,  and  mingling  his  drink  with  weeping;  so  that 
his  country,  yellow  at  best,  and  frightened  by  the  fear  of  being  done 
to  as  it  had  done  by  Serbia,  quit  abruptly,  without  shame,  almost 
without  firing  a  shot.  With  that  defection  the  last  wisp  of  Germany 's 
long  cherished  dream  of  a  boche  Middle-Europe  and  a  boche  empire 
stretching  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad,  faded  forever.  In  October,  1918, 
Austria  consented  to  a  reconstituted  independent  Bohemian  state, 
and  with  apparent  readiness  granted  self-government  to  Hungary. 

Meantime,  in  September  and  October,  1918,  the  American  and 
allied  armies  chased  the  Germans  from  the  coast  and  far  into  the 
interior  of  Belguim,  the  Belgian  army,  financed  by  the  United  States, 
taking  part  in  that  operation.  Town  after  town,  city  after  city  in 
Belgium  and  France  fell  to  the  American  and  allied  forces,  so  that 
the  German  government  (October  27)  addressed  a  note  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  asking  him  to  intercede  with  our  allies  for 
an  armistice  and  a  conference  for  discussion  of  terms  of  peace.  This 
led  to  four  exchanges  of  notes,  in  which  Germany's  expressions  were 
specious,  and  assumed  a  right  to  negotiate.  The  last  of  these  notes 
was  submitted  by  President  Wilson  to  the  allied  council  at  Paris ;  and 
the  council  answered  by  referring  the  whole  question  of  armistice  to 
Marshal  Foch  and  the  allied  military  chiefs. 

THE    **  CROOKED   KAMERAD'* 

In  those  same  months  of  September  and  October,  1918,  Austria 
and  Turkey  made  proffers  of  separate  surrender.  This  was  the  logical 
sequence  of  a  "crookfed  kamerad"  peace-offensive  inaugurated  by 
Germany  as  soon  as  she  found  herself  being  rolled,  helplessly,  toward 
the  Rhine.    It  was  at  once  the  most  vicious  game  that  her  genius  for 

470 


WEEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED. 

the  vicious  had  ever  prompted,  and  it  was  put  forward  at  the  very 
time  when  the  fourth  liberty  loan  was  in  course  of  being  floated. 

Our  soldiers  on  all  fronts  had  often  suffered  through  a  trick  of 
false  surrender  by  German  soldiers.  It  is  best  described  by  one  of  our 
boys  who  was  lying  on  a  ta^e  in  a  base  hospital,  waiting  his  turn  to  be 
operated  upon,  when  he  neard  another  who  was  being  wheeled  out 
from  the  operating  room  and  was  muttering  through  the  ether  fumes : 

"Fired  at  me  ten  feet  away,  he  did,  point  blank,  and  then  he 
dropped  his  rifle  and  stuck  up  his  hands  and  called  me  'Kamerad'! 
Kamerad,  the  dirty  crook !    Didn 't  I  stick  'im  pritty,  Bill"  ! 

It  had  been  a  common  thing  on  the  western  front  for  a  group 
of  boches  to  come  running  toward  the  American  lines  unarmed,  with 
their  hands  in  the  air,  crying  ''Kamerad!  Kamerad!"  And  then, 
when  our  men  went  out  to  receive  them,  fall  flat,  to  make  way  for  a 
force  of  armed  boches  immediately  behind  them,  who  opened  fire — 
plain  murder  as  ever  was  done. 

So  it  was  a  crooked  Kamerad  cry,  a  peace  offensive  intended  to 
sing  us  to  sleep,  that  Germany  launched  in  September,  1918.  Of  a 
sudden,  our  newspapers  were  filled  with  what  appeared  to  be  straight 
news  disptaches  dated  at  Amsterdam,  Copenhagen,  Stockholm,  London, 
Paris,  Geneva,  and  even  Berlin,  telling  tales  (that  were  not  so)  of 
starvation  and  disaffection  in  Germany,  or  broken  morale  in  the  Ger- 
man armies,  and  riotous  demonstrations  demanding  peace.  The 
impression  was  immediate  and  came  near  to  being  disastrous. 

Many  urgent  requests  were  being  made  just  then  for  public  help 
from  America.  The  gigantic  fourth  loan,  the  needs  of  the  Red  Cross, 
the  thousand  and  one  things,  big  and  little,  that  had  to  be  taken  care 
of,  and  the  very  earnest  and  pressing  call  for  a  sharper  realization  of 
war's  awful  facts,  were  being  driven  with  might  and  main,  all  over 
the  land ;  and  all  was  going  well. 

"Within  three  days,  before  even  the  Associated  Press  discovered 
the  fraud,  these  outrageous  German  lies  had  taken  effect.  Subscrip- 
tions to  the  loan  began  to  slacken,  alarmingly.  Interest  in  the  battle 
news  began  to  fade.    People  were  telling  each  other  the  war  was  over. 

PRINCE  MAX  WRITES  A  NOTE 

Then  on  October  6th,  1918,  came  ,the  note  of  the  German 
Chancelor,  Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden,  asking  an  armistice  and  a 
peace  conference — in  essence,  an  astounding  request  for  time  to  recon- 
solidate  the  German  armies  and  bring  up  fresh  guns  and  munitions. 
America  might  have  been  fooled  into  a  frightful  error  if  the  great 
war-organizations  had  not  come  forward  with  a  roaring  counterblast. 
The  peace  offensive  failed.  More  than  that,  the  people  resented  it  in 
a_  prompt  and  highly  practical  way.  They  oversubscribed  the  six 
biUion  loan.    Most  of  them,  especially  the  smaller  subscribers,  doubled 

471 


WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  BECKONING  DAWNED 

their  subscriptions  in  the  last  two  days  of  the  time  allotted  for  the 
flotation.  October  7th,  President  Wilson  answered  Prince  Max'«  re- 
quest with  a  refusal. 

But  it  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  allied  cause  that  the  peace 
offensive  was  made,  for  its  one  effect  was  to  create  a  profound  distrust 
of  all  war  news  coming  out  of  Amsterdam  or  Copenhagen.  It  revealed 
the  fact  that  Berlin  had  been  closely  censoring  all  news  dispatches  that 
assumed  to  disclose  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  central  empires ;  censoring 
them  rigorously,  and  inventing  most  of  them.  Germany  had  not  yet 
learned  that  lies  would  not  win  the  war ;  but  the  rest  of  the  world  had 
learned  that  Germany,  as  a  liar,  was  so  supemally  endowed  that  her 
feeblest  efforts  in  that  domain  would  have  made  Ananias,  Baron 
Munchausen,  and  Joe  Mulhatton  look  like  a  trio  of  supersaints,  chok- 
ing with  truth. 

FIRST   HUN    CRY   FOR   PEACE 

Germany's  definite  turn  toward  peace  came  in  October,  1918,  in 
the  form  of  further  and  very  awkward  notes  written  by  Prince 
Maximilian  of  Baden,  the  German  Chancelor,  and  Doctor  Solf,  Ger- 
man Minister  of  foreign  affairs.  While  the  first  of  these  notes  was 
coming  along,  the  Leinster  was  sunk  by  a  German  submarine  on  the 
Irish  coast.  The  Leinster  was  a  passenger  ship,  employed  in  regular 
service  on  a  long  ferriage.  She  had  a  full  passenger  list,  nearly  400 
people,  peaceable  folk  all,  just  about  such  as  may  be  found  any  day 
aboard  a  Staten  Island  ferry  boat.  It  was  not  in  any  sense  an  act 
of  war,  but  mere  and  open  piracy,  killing  for  the  love  of  killing.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  horrible  acts  in  a  long,  long  list  of  horrors  for 
which  Germany  has  learned  she  must  account  in  the  long  reckoning 
she  has  been  forced  to  face. 

VIRTUE,   VICE   AND  VIOLENCE 

At  the  same  time,  strangely  contrasting  with  the  virtuous  attitude 
assumed  in  the  notes,  towns  and  cities  in  France  and  Belgium  were 
being  blown  up  before  evacuation  by  the  Germans,  their  men  were 
being  marched  away  to  slavery  in  Germany,  their  women  and  young 
girls  assigned  as  "orderlies"  in  the  service  of  German  officers — such 
"orderlies"  as  Turkey  buys  and  sells  for  its  harems.  The  contrast 
between  German  professions  of  virtue  and  German  bestiality  of  act 
was  ghastly.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  such  things  could  happen  be- 
tween earth  and  sky,  and  they  who  did  them  still  live ;  yet  the  things, 
hypocritical  on  one  side  and  sickeningly  horrible  on  the  other,  were 
actually  done. 

RESULTS   OF    A   FEW    BUST    MONTHS 

Between  the  day  when  that  little  group  of  Americans  stopped  the 
hordes  of  hell  at  Chateau  Thierry,  and  Germany's  acceptance  of  the 
American  and  allied  armistice  terms,  these  other  and  happier  things 
had  come  to  pass, 

472 


WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

Bulgaria  had  been  forced  to  quit.  Germany,  Austria-Rungaiy, 
and  Turkey  sued  for  peace.  Turkey's  military  power  was  broken  in 
Asia  Minor,  Germany  undertook  the  greatest  retreat  in  history,  and 
these  countries  and  Austria-Hungary  were  suffering  from  serious 
internal  dissensions. 

The  allies  took  about  half  a  million  prisoners  and  some  4,000 
cannon.  They  destroyed  more  than  300  airplanes  and  100  balloons. 
They  recovered  more  than  7,000  square  miles  of  territory  in  France 
and  Belgium,  20,000  square  miles  in  Serbia,  Albania  and  Montenegro, 
and  15,000  square  miles  in  Asia  Minor. 

In  France,  the  cities  of  Lille,  Turcoing,  Roubaix,  Douai,  Lens, 
Cambrai,  St.  Q^entin,  Peronne,  Laon,  Soissons,  Noyon,  La  Bassee, 
Bapaume,  St.  Mihiel,  Chateau  Thieriy,  Grand  Pre,  Soissons,  Vouziers, 
LaFere,  LeCateau,  Juniville,  Craonne,  and  Machault  wore  reoccupied. 
Valenciennes  fell  to  the  British.  Reims  and  Verdun  were  freed,  after 
four  years'  artillery  domination. 

The  St.  Mihiel  salient  was  wiped  out  by  Pershing's  American 
army,  the  great  St.  Gobain  massif  recovered,  the  Hindenburg  line 
and  lesser  defensive  systems  shattered,  and  the  Argonne  massif  won. 

The  Belgian  Coast  was  cleared  of  the  enemy  and  the  Belgian  cities 
of  Bruges,  Ostend,  Zeebrugge,  Roulers,  Courtrai,  Ghent,  Audenarde, 
and  Tournai  were  recaptured. 

The  allied  advance  in  France  was  about  fifty  miles  eastward  from 
Villers-Bretonneaux,  near  Amiens,  and  nearly  the  same  distance  north- 
ward from  Chateau  Thierry.  In  Belgium,  the  allies  had  progressed 
about  forty  miles  eastward  from  Nieuport. 

Three-fourths  of  Serbia,  four-fifths  of  Albania,  and  a  large 
slice  of  Montenegro  were  repatriated. 

The  allied  advance  covered  more  than  200  miles  northward  to 
Negotin,  on  the  Danube,  within  twenty-two  miles  of  Hungarian 
Territory. 

The  British  in  Asia  Minor  advanced  over  350  miles  and  took 
Aleppo,  possession  of  which  gave  them  the  key  to  Constantinople  from 
the  south. 

The  British  expedition  in  Mesopotamia  began  an  operation  de- 
signed to  capture  Mosul  and  open  the  way  to  the  eastern  terminus  of 
the  proposed  Berlin-to-Bagdad  railway,  which  ends  at  Nesibin. 

In  Russia  the  allies  advanced  275  miles  up  the  Dwina  river  and 
penetrated  about  350  miles  southward  from  the  Murman  coast.  They 
also  pushed  600  miles  inland  from  Vladivostok. 

OPENS  UP  THE  DAEDANELLES 

On  the  very  last  day  of  October,  1918,  Turkey  surrendered  to  the 
British,  opening  the  Dardanelles  and  through  those  waters  giving  the 
allied  fleets  access  to  the  German-dominated  Black  Sea  and  the  coast 

473 


WHEN  TEE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

of  southern  Russia,  and  putting  at  the  mercer  of  the  allies  the  only 
active  units  of  the  Grerman  navy.  The  surrender  included  Palestine 
and  the  Mesopotamian  fronts.  General  Allenby's  farther  drive  at 
Constantinople  became  unnecessary,  having  served  the  purpose  of 
hastening  Turkey 's  decision ;  and  Allenby  himself  was  assigned  to  the 
occupancy  of  the  Turk  Capital. 

The  same  day,  October  31, 1918,  the  Austrian  government  ordered 
demobilization  of  the  Austrian  armies,  and  the  Austrian  forces  began 
a  hasty  retreat  from  Italy.  The  retreat  became  a  rout  before  evening 
of  that  day,  the  Italians  pursuing  and  capturing  over  50,000  men  and 
300  cannon,  and  cutting  off  some  200,000  Austrians  in  a  trap  between 
the  Brenta  and  Piave  rivers.  General  Diaz,  the  Italian  commander, 
after  considerable  entreaty,  consented  to  receive  General  Weber  of  the 
Austrian  command,  who  brought  a  plea  for  armistice. 

The  result  of  their  conference  was  an  agreement  for  an  armistice 
that  should  go  into  effect  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  November 
4th — an  allowance  of  time  sufficient  to  get  the  acceptance  signed  at 
Vienna.    Meanwhile  there  would  be  no  cessation  of  fighting. 

AUSTRIA  SURRENDERS 

The  terms  were  thorough  and  severe.  They  amounted  to  Austria 's 
unconditional  surrender,  disarmament,  demobilization  of  armies, 
delivery  of  the  major  fleet  and  all  submarines  to  the  United  States 
and  allies,  restoration  to  Italy  of  all  the  Italian  provinces  that  Austria 
had  taken  in  older  wars,  free  passage  to  American  and  allied  forces 
through  Austrian  territory,  abandonment  of  land,  sea  and  island  forti- 
fications to  the  Americans  and  allies,  immediate  release  (without 
reciprocation)  of  all  American  and  allied  soldiers  and  sailors  held 
prisoner  in  Austria,  return  of  all  allied  merchant  ships  held  at 
Austrian  ports,  freedom  of  navigation  on  the  Danube  by  American 
and  allied  war  and  merchant  ships,  internment  of  all  German  troop* 
remaining  in  Austria  by  November  18th,  1918,  and  immediate  with- 
drawal of  all  Austrian  troops  serving  with  the  German  armies  any- 
where between  the  Swiss  border  and  the  North  sea. 

The  terms  were  accepted  in  full  by  the  Vienna  government,  but 
between  the  time  it  was  delivered  by  General  Diaz  to  General  Weber 
and  3  o'clock  of  November  4th,  the  Austrian  armies  on  Italian 
soil  stampeded  in  a  panic  so  complete  that  the  pursuing  Italians  had 
taken  200,000  of  them  prisoner,  making  altogether  nearly  half  a  million 
taken  since  October  24th.  In  the  same  time  about  7,000  guns,  12,000 
auto  cars  and  over  200,000  horses  were  captured,  and  Austrian 
fatalities  ran  into  numbers  almost  equal  to  the  largest  army  Napoleon 
ever  had  under  command  in  any  one  of  his  great  campaigns. 

Austria  had  begun  to  yield  during  the  last  week  of  October,  when 
Hungary  abandoned  the  empire,  released  its  civil  and  military  officials 

474 


WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

from  their  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  imperial  crown,  and  formed 
arrangements  for  an  independent  government  of  its  own.  Count 
Tisza,  formerly  premier  of  Hungary,  and  the  most  reactionary  of 
Hungarian  statesmen,  was  assassinated  toward  the  close  of  that  week. 

THE  KILLING  OF  TISZA 

An  Amsterdam  report  dated  November  3d  quoted  from  the 
Vossische  Zeitung  of  Berlin  an  account  of  that  event,  from  which  it 
appears  that  about  6  o'clock  in  the  evening  three  soldiers  invaded 
Count  Tisza 's  residence  and  presented  themselves  in  the  drawing  room. 
Count  Tisza,  with  his  wife  and  the  Countess  Almassy,  advanced  to 
mc€t  the  intruders,  asking  what  they  wanted.  "What  have  you  in 
your  hand  ? "  a  soldier  demanded  of  Tisza.  Tisza  replied  that  he  held 
a  revolver.  The  soldier  told  him  to  put  it  away,  but  Tisza  replied: 
"I  shall  not,  because  you  have  not  laid  aside  your  rifles."  The 
noldiers  then  requested  the  women  to  leave  the  room,  but  they  declined 
to  do  so.  A  soldier  then  addressed  Tisza  as  follows:  "You  are 
responsible  for  the  destruction  of  millions  of  people,  because  you 
caused  the  war. '  *  Then  raising  their  rifles,  the  soldiers  shouted :  '  *  The 
hour  of  reckoning  has  come. ' '  The  soldiers  fired  three  shots  and  Tisza 
fell.  His  last  words  were:  "I  am  dying.  It  had  to  be."  The 
soldiers  quitted  the  house,  accompanied  by  gendarmes,  who  previously 
were  employed  to  guard  the  door. 

It  was  the  removal  of  Count  Tisza  that  really  cleared  the  way 
for  the  new  Hungarian  state.  Bohemia  and  the  other  Slavic  vassal 
states  of  Austria  had  already  broken  away.  President  Wilson  had 
recognized  Poland  as  an  independent  and  belligerent  state.  Austria 's 
remaining  dependence,  after  Hungary's  defection,  was  upon  the  Ger- 
man population  of  its  north  and  northwestern  provinces,  and  the 
provinces  wrenched  from  Italy  forty  years  before.  Austrian  armies 
numbering  more  than  half  a  million  men  had  driven  the  Italians  back 
from  the  territory  they  had  won  in  1917  under  General  Cadorna,  and 
had  been  brought  to  a  stand  on  the  river  Piave,  where  a  deadlock 
somewhat  resembling  that  in  front  of  Verdun  had  been  maintained 
many  months.  These  armies  were  affected  by  the  movement  that  was 
dissolving  the  empire,  and  gave  way,  with  the  result  above  stated. 

The  terms  of  the  Austrian  armistice  were  furnished  to  General 
Diaz  through  Marshal  Foch,  by  the  American  and  allied  council 
sitting  at  Versailles. 

During  the  interim  between  the  delivery  and  the  acceptance  of 
the  Austrian  Armistice  and  the  surrender  of  Austria,  the  Versailles 
Council  prepared  terms  of  an  armistice  that  had  been  sued  for  by  the 
German  government. 

475 


WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

TERMS  PREPARDED  FOR  GERMANY 

On  November  4th,  1918,  Berlin  was  notified  by  the  Versailles 
council  that  Marshal  Foch  had  in  his  hands  the  terms  on  which 
armistice  would  be  granted.  November  8th,  a  German  commission 
of  five  were  admitted  to  audience  with  Marshal  Foch,  who  read  and 
delivered  the  document,  with  notice  that  it  must  be  accepted  and  signed 
within  seventy-two  hours.  A  request  by  Herr  Erzberger,  one  of  the 
German  commissioners,  that  fighting  be  suspended  during  that  time, 
was  curtly  refused;  and  the  armistice  terms  were  communicated  by 
the  commissioners  to  the  German  revolutionary  government,  which 
had  come  into  power  by  voluntary  transfer  of  the  chancelorship  from 
Prince  Maximilian  of  Baden  to  Friedrich  Ebert,  Vice-president  of  the 
social  democratic  party. 

The  revolution  began  in  the  German  fleet  at  Kiel,  where  the 
sailors  mutinied  and  hoisted  the  red  flag.  It  spread  with  great  rapidity 
and  very  little  disorder  throughout  all  the  German  states. 

November  9th  the  Kaiser  was  compelled  by  the  revolutionists  to 
abdicate,  and  the  crown  prince  signed  a  renunciation  of  his  right  to 
the  succession.  The  abdication  of  the  Kings  of  Bavaria  and  Wurtem- 
burg  occurred  at  the  same  time.  The  ex-emperor  and  the  crown  prince, 
in  an  attempt  to  reach  the  British  line  and  surrender  themselves,  were 
headed  off  by  the  revolutionary  forces  and  took  refuge  in  Holland. 

ARMISTICE  SIGNED  BY  GERMANY 

November  11th,  1918,  the  armistice  was  signed  by  the  German 
commissioners,  upon  orders  from  Berlin.  On  the  morning  of  that 
day,  at  11  o'clock  Paris  time,  fighting  ceased  on  all  fronts. 

The  terms  of  the  armistice  were  in  substance  as  follows.  They 
demanded : 

Evacuation  within  thirty-one  days  of  Belgium,  France,  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  Luxemburg,  Russia,  Roumania  and  Turkey,  all  territory 
that  had  belonged  to  Austria-Hungary,  and  all  territory  held  by 
German  troops  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

Renunciation  of  the  treaties  of  Brest-Litovsk  and  Bucharest. 

Delivery  to  and  occupation  by  American  and  allied  troops  within 
nineteen  days,  of  Mayence,  Coblenz  and  Cologne,  together  with  their 
bridgeheads.  The  bridgeheads  include  all  German  territory  within  a 
radius  of  eighteen  miles  on  the  east  (German)  bank  of  the  Rhine,  at 
each  of  these  points. 

The  surrender  of  5,000  cannon,  25,000  machine  guns,  5,000  motor 
lorries,  3,000  flame  throwers,  1,700  airplanes,  5,000  locomotives,  150,- 
000  wagons  (railway  cars)  and  all  the  railways  of  Alsace-Lorraine. 

Establishment  of  a  neutral  strip  twenty-four  miles  wide  on  the 
east  (German)  side  of  the  Rhine,  paralleling  that  river  from  the 
Holland  border  to  the  border  of  Switzerland. 

476 


WEEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

The  return  within  fifteen  days,  of  all  inhabitants  removed  from 
invaded  countries,  including  hostages  and  persons  under  trial  or 
convicted. 

Release  of  American  and  allied  prisoners  of  war  held  by  Germany 
— the  American  and  allied  powers  to  retain  all  Germans  held  by  them 
as  prisoners  of  war. 

Surrender  of  half  of  the  German  fleet  to  America  and  the  allies, 
together  with  all  submarines,  other  miscellaneous  German  ships,  and 
all  American  and  allied  merchant  ships  held  by  Germany.  The  other 
half  of  the  German  fleet  to  be  disarmed  and  dismantled. 

Notification  to  neutral  countries  by  Germany  that  they  are  free 
to  trade  on  the  seas  with  America  and  the  allied  countries. 

Access  by  way  of  Dantzig  or  the  Vistula  river,  to  all  territory 
in  the  East  evacuated  by  Germany. 

Evacuation  by  all  German  forces  in  East  Africa  within  a  time 
to  be  fixed  by  the  allies. 

Restitution  for  all  damage  done  by  German  forces. 

Return  of  the  funds  taken  by  the  Germans  from  the  National 
Bank  of  Belgium,  and  the  gold  taken  from  Russia  and  Roumania. 

These  terms,  which  not  only  constitute  Germany's  unconditional 
surrender,  but  reduce  Germany  to  a  condition  that  absolutely  prevents 
her  resumption  of  war,  form  the  base  of  the  final  treaty  of  peace. 

CLOSING  DAYS  OF  HOHENZOLLERN  REIGN 

Into  the  four  months  preceding  November  11,  1918,  were  crammed 
events  that  drove  the  Germans  back,  deprived  them  of  their  allies, 
brought  the  utter  collapse  of  Imperial  government,  drove  the  emperor 
into  exile,  saw  a  socialist  republic  set  up  with  Berlin  as  its  capital, 
brought  the  whole  of  what  had  been  the  empire  to  a  state  of  seething 
unrest  and  change  touched  with  the  poison  of  bolshevism.  November 
4,  a  memorable  date,  found  Germany  alone  and  unsupported  against 
a  world  triumphant  in  arms.  All  the  laboriously  built  up  structure 
of  her  military  state  was  brought  to  a  futile  struggle  for  life,  the  whole 
vast  fabric  of  her  underground  diplomacy,  her  intricate,  world-pene- 
trating spy  system,  her  mavelously  elaborate  and  totally  unscrupulous 
propaganda,  crumibled  away;  nothing  remained  of  the  earlier  vigor 
but  a  memory — that  shall  be  a  stench  forever. 

November  11,  1918,  will  go  down  in  history  as  the  memorable  day 
in  which  the  last  surviving  medieval  tyranny  in  Europe  disappeared 
in  blood  and.  smoke ;  for  its  final  act  was  filled  with  characteristic  hate 
and  brutality. 

In  the  very  last  hours  before  armistice  took  effect,  German 
batteries  poured  a  deluge  of  high  explosives  and  posion  gas  on 
Mezieres,  where  there  were  no  allied  soldiers  at  ail,  but  only  civilians, 
men,  women  and  children,  twenty  thousand  of  them,  penned  like  rats 

477 


WHEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

in  a  trap,  without  possibility  of  escape.  Says  one  correspondent, 
describing  that  horror :  ' '  Words  cannot  depict  the  plight  of  the  un- 
happy victims  of  this  crowning  German  atrocity.  Incendiary  shells 
fired  the  hospital,  and  by  the  glare  of  a  hundred  fires  the  wounded 
were  carried  to  a  shelter  of  cellars  where  the  whole  population  was 
crouching. 

"That  was  not  enough  to  appease  the  bitter  blood  lust  of  the 
Germans  in  defeat.  Cellars  may  give  protection  from  fire  or  melinite  ; 
but  they  are  worse  than  death  traps  against  the  heavy  fumes  of 
poisonous  gas.  So  the  murderous  order  was  given,  and  faithfully  the 
boche  gunners  carried  it  out.  There  were  no  gas  masks  for  the 
civilians  and  no  chemicals  that  might  permit  them  to  save  lives. 
Many  succumbed." 

FINAL.  ACT  OF   THE   HUN   AT   SEA 

The  final  act  at  sea  was  almost  concurrent  with  this  tragedy. 
The  16,000-ton  battleship  Britannia  was  torpedoed  off  the  entrance  to 
the  straits  of  Gibraltar,  November  9,  and  sank  in  three  and  one-half 
hours. 

FOLLOWING  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONINa 

And  so,  spewing  murder  in  its  last  writhing,  the  monster  died. 
It  had  begun  by  furiously  ravaging  Belgium  in  August,  1914;  it 
ended  with  the  awful,  wanton  murder  of  noncombatants  at  Mezieres 
in  November,  1918.  Throughout  four  years,  three  months  and  ten 
days,  it  had  ramped  and  raged  over  the  land,  under  the  sea  and  in 
the  air,  slaughtering,  poisoning,  ravaging,  without  cessation,  killing 
wherever  it  could,  robbing  with  colossal  greed,  defiling  what  it  could 
neither  kill  nor  carry  away,  leaving  across  the  pages  of  history  a  trail 
of  blood  and  filth  and  slime  that  all  the  tears  of  all  the  angels  cannot 
ever  wash  away. 

But  it  left  a  world  of  nations  free  to  work  out  their  several 
destinies,  self -determining,  not  subject  any  more  to  the  threat  of 
causeless  war  at  the  hands  of  a  government  steeled  to  barbarity.  A 
world  cemented  by  the  blood  the  monster  itself  had  caused  to  be  shed ; 
by  the  memory  of  brave  sons  fallen  that  others  might  live;  by  the  tears 
of  countless  women  and  children  made  widows  and  orphans ;  by  a  new 
understanding  between  all  the  nations  of  men  that  dwell  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth,  because  of  mutual  sacrifices  in  a  common  cause;  by  a 
knowledge  that  the  long  night  of  medieval  tyranny  had  faded  out  and 
a  new  day  had  come,  in  which  power  shall  arise  from  and  be  wielded 
by  the  peoples,  never  again  by  kings  or  emperors.  And  so  our  planet 
shall  be  ruled  as  long  as  man  inhabits  it.  Out  of  bitter  darkness,  in 
the  splendor  of  this  new  day  the  spirit  of  liberty  has  risen,  with  heal- 
ing on  its  wings. 

We  who  have  lived  through  the  struggle  may  say  with  gratitude, 
each  of  us,  "I  saw  the  light !    I  saw  the  morning  break ! ' * 

478      I 


WEEN  THE  DAYS  OF  RECKONING  DAWNED 

AMONG  THE  LAST  SHOTS  FIRED 

While  Berlin  was  trying  to  get  into  touch  with  Marshal  Foch,  and 
the  end  was  coming  into  sight,  the  Americans  along  the  Meuse  put 
forth  all  the  energy  that  was  in  them,  in  their  eager  desire  to  hand 
the  enemy  a  final  series  of  wallops.  It  was  here  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  exploits  of  the  war  occurred. 

On  the  night  of  November  4,  American  troops,  though  under  very 
heavy  artillery  and  machine  gun  fire,  succeeded  in  building  four 
pontoon  bridges  across  the  Meuse,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  east  of 
Brieulles.  Early  in  the  morning  one  of  these  was  destroyed,  but  a 
strong  force  crossed  over  the  other  three,  and  swept  forward  with 
such  rapidity,  though  in  the  face  of  superior  numbers,  that  by  noon 
the  enemy  was  in  disorderly  retreat  northward.  By  nightfall  the 
Americans  on  that  side  of  the  river  had  captured  Liny-Devant-Dun 
and  Mille-Devant-Dun,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  while  a  large 
American  and  French  force  pushed  back  the  Germans  on  the  west 
bank,  capturing  Beaumont,  Pouilly  and  several  less  important  places, 
and  taking  positions  on  three  sides  of  Stenay,  the  pivot  on  which  the 
whole  German  retirement  had  turned.  American  troops  the  5th  and 
6th  of  November  had  advanced  to  within  five  miles  of  the  main  com- 
munication line  of  the  Germany  between  Metz,  Mezieres,  Hirson  and 
the  north. 

After  destroying  the  bridge  connecting  Stenay  with  Laneuville, 
the  Germans  had  opened  the  locks  of  the  Ardennes  canal  and  flooded 
the  river  to  a  width  of  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile. 

It  was  here  the  Americans  undertook  and  accomplished  the  im- 
possible. They  picked  out  the  best  of  their  swimmers,  who  crossed 
the  stream  carrying  light  lines  attached  to  heavy  cables,  which  were 
drawn  after  them,  and  by  a  hasty  pontoon  construction  got  the  whole 
force  across.  Then,  in  the  face  of  heavy  firing,  they  pounded  their 
way  over  a  mud  flat  nearly  a  mile  wide,  and  hit  the  canal,  which  by 
then,  had  been  drained,  forming  a  deep  ditch  that  would  have  stopped 
any  other  soldiers.  But  the  Americans  rustled  up  some  grappling 
irons  and  hooks,  which  they  tied  to  the  ends  of  ropes,  and  throwing 
them  to  the  coping,  then  swarmed  up  and  chased  the  disconcerted 
Germans  out  of  their  last  position  in  that  sector. 

On  November  7th  American  troops  entered  Sedan  and  cut  the 
German  line  of  communication  between  Metz  and  the  north. 

The  same  day,  troops  from  Ohio,  under  command  of  General 
Famsworth,  took  the  Bcke  salient  sixteen  miles  southwest  of  Ghent 
in  Belgium,  and  were  advancing  on  the  city  when  the  Germans  sud- 
denly evacuated  it,  departing  in  haste  toward  the  German  frontier. 

Stenay  was  the  last  town  to  fall  into  American  hands.  It  was 
occupied  without  resistance,  an  hour  before  the  armistice  went  into 

470 


WHJ^N  THE  DAYS  OF  BECKONING  DAWNED 

effect.  "Wliile  preparations  for  attack  were  in  course,  paroles  came 
in  reporting  that  the  Germans  had  cleared  out.  The  American  troops 
at  once  poured  in,  and  established  occupation  at  10 :45  in  the  forenoon, 
just  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  word  came  that  the  armistice  had 
taken  effect. 

In  a  few  minutes  flags  of  the  allies  were  flying  from  housetops, 
and  the  church  bells  were  ringing  out  the  war.    It  was  over. 

AT  THE  ELEVENTH  HOUR 

The  last  morning  on  the  fighting  lines  was  busy  wherever  Amer- 
ican troops  were  placed,  from  the  Moselle  to  Sedan.  All  the  batteries 
kept  their  guns  going,  and  the  Germans  replied  in  kind.  The  American 
hea^y  guns  fired  their  parting  salvo  at  11:00  o'clock,  less  two  or  three 
seconds.  To  this  final  crack  the  Germans  tossed  a  few  over,  just 
after  11 :00.  There  was  a  strong  American  infantry  advance,  north- 
east of  Verdun,  in  the  direction  of  Omes,  beginning  at  nine  o'clock, 
after  lively  artillery  preparation.  The  German  artillery  responded 
feebly,  but  the  machine  gun  resistance  was  stubborn.  Nevertheless, 
the  Americans  made  progress.  The  Americans  had  received  orders 
to  hold  the  positions  reached  by  11 :00  o'clock,  and  at  those  points  they 
began  to  dig  in,  marking  the  advance  positions  of  the  American  line 
when  hostilities  ceased. 

Then  the  individual  groups  unfurled  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  shook 
hands  and  cheered.  Soon  afterwards  they  were  preparing  for  lunch- 
eon. All  the  boys  were  hungry,  as  they  had  breakfasted  early  in 
anticipation  of  what  they  considered  the  greatest  day  in  American 
history. 

THE  ALL  PULL  TOGETHER  SHOT 

There  was  a  regular  celebration  at  Pepper  hill,  north  of  Verdun, 
where  a  battery  of  Rhode  Island  artillery  rigged  a  twenty-foot  rope 
to  the  lanyard  of  a  .155  cannon,  and  eveiy  man  in  the  company,  from 
the  captain  to  the  cook,  laid  hold  of  it  and  waited.  At  the  tick  of 
eleven  o'clock  they  gave  that  rope  one  mighty  yank,  all  together,  and 
the  gun.  roared  out  the  last  sliot  of  the  war. 

— The  Last  Yank  of  the  Ymiks. 


480 


AT  TEE  END  OF  TEE  WORLD  WAR 

AT    THE   END   OF    THE   WORLD   WAR 

The  great  drama  is  ended.  For  the  first  time  in  four  years  the 
sound  of  giant  cannon  cannot  be  heard  anywhere  along  the  long  line 
from  the  channel  to  the  Adriatic ;  the  deadly  rattle  of  machine  guns  is 
stilled.  No  gas  fumes  poison  the  winter  air.  No  clouds  of  burning 
cities  darken  the  sun.  Better  than  all,  no  life  blood  flows ;  the  fighting 
men  rest  in  their  lines,  the  bayonet  is  sheathed,  the  bullet  sleeps  harm- 
less in  its  clip. 

This  at  last  is  peace.  In  the  great  cities,  the  towns  and  hamlets 
of  Europe  and  America,  a  vast  wave  of  emotion  inundates  the  hearts 
of  men ;  in  the  allied  lands  there  is  exultation ;  in  Germany  there  is 
at  least  relief,  and  perhaps  the  dawning  of  a  new  hope. 

We  have  had  our  day  of  glorification.  It  is  now  time  for  our 
best  thought,  and  the  first  of  this  thought  will  be  for  the  men  who 
have  given  their  lives  for  our  cause  and  for  the  men  more  fortunate, 
but  not  less  willing  to  give  all,  who  in  France  and  Flanders  have 
covered  our  flag  once  more  with  undying  glory,  the  soldiers  of  the 
Marne,  of  Cantigny,  of  the  great  German  repulse  east  of  Eeims,  of 
Chateau  Thierry,  of  St.  ]\Iihiel,  the  Argonne,  and  Sedan.  The  graves 
of  our  men  have  consecrated  these  immortal  battlefields  and  our  sacred 
dead  will  live  on  in  the  memory  of  the  republic  forever.  As  for  those 
who  return,  crowned  with  victory,  they  shall  now  be  first  and  fore- 
most under  the  roof  tree  of  the  great  motherland,  who  sent  them  forth 
with  aching  yet  uplifted  heart,  confident  that  they  would  honor  her 
even  as  they  have  done. 

■In  this  hour  we  salute  our  army  and  our  navy,  which  have  not 
failed  us  at  any  point,  in  any  test,  however  arduous  or  fiery.  Under 
commanders  devoted,  efScient,  indefatigable,  our  regiments  have  met 
the  most  famous  troops  of  the  enemy  and  crushed  their  resistance,  have 
set  new  records  of  sanguinary  valor  under  punishment,  and  driven 
always  and  irresistibly  on  to  victory.  They  have  written  a  page  in 
the  annals  of  the  republic  and  in  the  history  of  war  which  will  shine 
down  the  ages  with  unsurpassed  magnificence. 

It  has  been  terrible,  yet  glorious,  to  live  through  such  a  time, 
even  for  us  who  have  not  passed  through,  the  great  experience  of 
battle,  who  have  not  watched  and  taken  part  in  the  heroic  charge 
of  our  infantry  across  death-swept  meadows,  or  heard  with  our  ears 
the  thunder  of  the  great  guns  or  felt  the  earth  shake  under  the  tread 
of  marching  legions.  We  at  home  have  had  our  own  experiences,  our 
deep  anxieties,  our  doubts,  our  griefs,  and  always  we  have  been  con- 
scious of  the  might  of  forces  in  grapple  and  the  high  issues  that  hung 
upon  the  fate  of  the  armies.  In  the  background  of  all  our  thoughts 
at  all  times  has  been  the  solemn  consciousness  that  the  destiny  of 

481 


AT  THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

mankind  was  at  work  in  mighty  throes  toward  an  end  hidden  to  our 
knowledge  if  not  to  our  faith  and  hope.  We  have  none  of  ns  passed 
through  this  experience  without  receiving  its  mark.  Life  can  never 
be  altogether  what  it  was  before  for  any  of  us.  New  generations  will 
spring  fort^  innocent  of  the  memories  which  are  ours  and  the  unex- 
pressible  lessons  of  our  day.  But  for  us  it  has  been,  with  all  its 
tragedy  and  vast  destruction,  a  day  of  illumination  and  inspiration. 

Standing  on  the  threshold  of  a  peace  restored,  we  must  pray  that 
out  of  the  epic  experience  of  the  great  conflict  something  more  than 
the  stern  negative  of  our  victory  shall  be  preserved  for  the  time  to 
come,  something  positive  of  good,  something  of  that  divine  light  of 
men's  heroic  sacrifice  which  shone  out  in  the  darkest  hour,  something 
of  new  strength  and  understanding  of  life  and  of  human  potentialities. 

We  have  before  us  now  a  tremendous  task  of  restoration.  Amer- 
ica is  in  a  more  fortunate  situation  than  the  nations  of  Europe ;  yet  to 
return  our  resources  to  the  channels  of  peace,  to  free  our  institutions 
from  the  hasty  improvisations  of  war  emergency,  and  to  protect  them 
from  the  effects  of  forced  and  abnormal  application,  is  a  task  which 
will  test  the  wisdom  and  character  of  our  leaders  and  our  people. 

If  our  war  experience  has  proved  anything  of  America,  it  has 
been  the  soundness  and  beneficence  of  American  institutions  and  the 
life  they  make  possible.  Let  us  realize  that  truth,  and  resolve  that 
these  institutions  shall  be  strengthened  in  peace  and  not  weakened, 
and  that  the  life  which  has  grown  up  and  flowered  under  their  influ- 
ence shall  be  jealously  preserved  for  our  children  and  our  children's 
ehildren^  and  for  th©  sake  of  our  heroic  dead. ' ' 

THE  CROWNING  HUMILIATION 

The  Crowning  Humiliation,  or  Before  and  After  Seeing  Foch, 
might  be  the  appropriate  title  for  the  latest  story  now  added  to  the 
pages  of  world  history. 

Four  years  and  four  months  ago  the  German  leadership,  fully 
confident  of  its  strength,  assured  of  its  weapons,  arrogant  beyond 
anything  in  recorded  history,  challenged  the  organized  and  unor- 
ganized forces  of  the  civilized  world  to  mortal  combat.  They  thrust 
the  Imperial  German  sword  through  all  the  covenants  and  commands 
of  civilization  and  of  justice.  Bursting  out  upon  an  unprepared  and 
unsuspecting  world,  they  were,  despite  their  incredible  strength, 
checked  by  France  on  the  battlefield  of  the  Marne,  encircled  by  the 
British  fleets,  and  like  Napoleon  after  Leipzig,  condemned  to  ultimate 
defeat.  At  the  hour  when  the  white  flag  was  brought  to  the  French 
lines,  British  armies  were  approaching  the  field  of  Waterloo,  Ameri- 
can armies  stood  victorious  in  Sedan,  and  French  armies  were  sweep- 
ing forward  from  the  Oise  to  the  Meuse.  The  crowning  humiliation 
came  with  the  admission  of  defeat.  Germany  sought  armistice  at  tiie 
hands  of  a  Marshal  of  France  I 

482 


FOCH— "THE  GRAY  MAN  OF  CELBIST'* 

In  the  closing  days  of  the  great  war  a  striking  contrast  was  drawn 
by  the  Los  Angeles  Times  between  William  Hohenzollem  and  Mar- 
shal Foch,  from  the  religious  standpoint.  The  former  German  mon- 
arch coupled  Gott  with  himself  as  an  equal,  while  Ferdinand  Foch 
was  called,  with  apparent  reason,  "the  gray  man  of  Christ." 

"This  has  been  Christ's  war,"  said  the  Times.  "Christ  on  one 
side,  and  all  that  stood  opposed  to  Christ  on  the  other  side.  And  the 
generalissimo,  in  supreme  command  of  all  the  armies  that  fought  on 
the  side  of  Christ,  is  Christ's  man.  *  *  *  Jt  seems  to  be  beyond 
all  shadow  of  doubt  that  when  the  hour  came  in  which  all  that  Christ 
stood  for  was  to  either  stand  or  fall,  Christ  raised  up  a  man  to  lead 
the  hosts  that  battled  for  him."    And  the  Times  continues: 

"If  you  will  look  for  Foch  in  some  quiet  ehurch,  it  is  there  that 
he  will  be  found,  humbly  giving  God  the  glory  and  absolutely  declin- 
ing to  attribute  it  to  himself.  Can  that  kind  of  a  man  win  a  war? 
Can  a  man  who  is  a  practical  soldier  be  also  a  practical  Christian? 
And  is  Foch  that  kind  of  a  man  ?     Let  us  see. 

"A  California  boy,  serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  American  Expe- 
ditionary Forces  in  France,  wrote  a  letter  to  his  parents  in  San  Ber- 
nardino recently,  in  which  he  gives,  as  well  as  anyone  else  could  give, 
the  answer  to  the  question  we  ask.  This  American  boy,  Evans  by 
name,  tells  of  meeting  Marshal  Foch  at  close  range  in  France. 

"Evans  had  gone  into  an  old  church  to  have  a  look  at  it,  and  as 
he  stood  there  with  bared  head  satisfying  his  respectful  curiosity,  a 
gray  man  with  the  eagles  of  a  general  on  the  collar  of  his  shabby 
uniform  entered  the  church.  Only  one  orderly  accompanied  the  quiet, 
gray  man.  No  glittering  staff  of  officers,  no  entourage  of  gold-laced 
aides  were  with  him ;  nobody  but  just  the  orderly. 

"Evans  paid  small  attention  at  first  to  the  gray  man,  but  was 
curious  to  see  him  kneel  in  the  church,  praying.  The  minutes  passed 
until  full  three-quarters  of  an  hour  had  gone  by  before  the  gray  man 
arose  from  his  knees. 

* '  Then  Evans  followed  him  down  the  street  and  was  surprised  to 
see  soldiers  salute  this  man  in  great  excitement,  and  women  and  chil- 
dren stopping  in  their  tracks  with  awe-stnlck  faces  as  he  passed. 

"It  was  Foch!  And  now  Evans,  of  San  Bernardino,  counts  the 
experience  as  the  greatest  in  his  life.  During  that  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  that  the  generalissimo  of  all  the  Allied  armies  was  on  his 
knees  in  humble  supplication  in  that  quiet  church,  10,000  guns  were 
roaring  at  his  word  on  a  hundred  hills  that  rocked  with  death. 

"Moreover,  it  is  not  a  new  thing  with  him.  He  has  done  it  his 
whole  life  long." 

483 


CHAPTEBXXXrr 

HOME  FOLLOWS  THE  FLAG 

Nearly  28,000,000  Red  Cross  Relief  Workers  Distributing  Aid  in  Ten 
Countries— Two  War  Fund  Drives  in  1918  Raise  $291,000,000— 
Other  Organizations  Active — 3,000  Buildings  Necessary — Caring 
for  the  Boys — Boy  Scouts  Play  Their  Part  Well. 

From  the  hour  of  enlistment  to  the  hour  of  return,  the  United 
States  soldiers  and  sailors  have  had  with  them,  throughout  the  war, 
the  advantage  of  intelligent,  sympathetic  help  from  various  civilian 
organizations,  co-ordinating  with  the  military. 

First  of  all  is  the  Red  Cross,  but  that  organization  really  is  a 
non-combatant  arm  of  the  national  service;  and  its  work,  generously 
financed  by  public  subscription,  is  the  greatest  of  its  kind  ever  done 
in  field  or  hospital,  in  any  war. 

Red  Cross  history  would  fill  a  big  volume,  no  matter  how  meagrely 
told.  There  are  3,854  chapters  of  the  organization.  At  the  annual 
meeting  of  their  war  council,  October  23,  1918,  the  chairman,  Henry 
P.  Davison,  submitted  a  report  that  is  literally  astonishing,  because 
the  facts  related  had  developed  without  publicity  and  were  quite  un- 
known to  the  people  of  the  country  at  large.  Here  are  a  few  of  them, 
taken  from  Mr.  Davison 's  ofQcial  statement : 

NEARLY  28,000,000  WORKERS 

The  Red  Cross  in  America  has  a  membership  of  20,648,103,  and 
in  addition,  8,000,000  members  in  the  Junior  Red  Cross — a  total  enroll- 
ment of  more  than  one-fourth  the  population  of  the  United  States. 

American  Red  Cross  workers  produced  up  to  July  1st,  1918,  a 
total  of  221,282,838  articles  of  an  estimated  value  of  $44,000,000. 
About  8,000,000  women  are  engaged  in  canteen  work  and  the  produc- 
tion of  relief  supplies. 

The  American  Red  Cross  is  distributing  aid  in  ten  countries — 
the  United  States,  England,  France,  Italy,  Belgium,  Switzerland, 
Palestine,  Greece,  Russia  and  Siberia.  Besides  it  has  sent  representa- 
tives to  Serbia,  Denmark  and  Madeira. 

Two  war  fund  "drives"  in  1918  brought  money  contributions 
to  the  amount  of  $291,000,000.  Membership  dues  of  $24,500,000 
brought  the  total  up  to  $315,500,000  for  the  fiscal  year.  All  this 
money  was  expended  for  purposes  of  pure  mercy. 

It  has  been  because  of  the  spirit  which  has  pervaded  all  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross  effort  in  this  war  that  the  aged  governor  of  one  of 
the  stricken  and  battered  provinces  of  France  stated  not  long  since 
that,  though  France  had  long  known  of  American's  greatness,  strength 

484 


HOME  FOLLOWED  THE  FLAG 

and  enterprise,  it  remained  for  the  American  Red  Cross  in  this  war 
to  reveal  America's  heart. 

The  home  service  of  the  Red  Cross,  with  its  now  more  than 
40,000  workers,  is  extending  its  ministrations  of  sympathy  and  counsel 
each  month  to  upward  of  100,000  families  left  behind  by  soldiers  at 
the  front. 

OTHER   ORGANIZATIONS   ACTIVE 

Next  to  the  Red  Cross  in  importance  comes  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  affectionately  known  to  the  army  as  ''the  Y." 
Then  the  Young  Women 's  Christian  Association ;  the  National  Catholic 
"War  Council;  the  Salvation  Army;  the  Knights  of  Columbus;  The 
Jewish  Welfare  Board :  the  War  Camp  Community  Service ;  and  The 
American  Library  Association. 

What  might  be  called  the  field  army  of  these  seven  great  agencies 
comprises  more  than  15,000  uniformed  workers  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  and  in  Siberia;  and  General  Pershing,  late  in  October  of 
1918,  asked  that  additional  workers  be  sent  over  at  the  rate  of  at  least 
a  thousand  a  month. 

They  represent  every  type  of  activity — secretaries,  athletic  direc- 
tors, librarians,  preachers,  lecturers,  entertainers,  motion  picture 
operators,  truck  drivers,  hotel  managers  and  caterers.  Many  of  them 
pay  their  own  expenses.  Those  who  cannot  do  that  are  paid  their 
actual  living  expenses  if  they  are  single ;  and  if  they  have  families,  are 
allowed  approximately  the  pay  of  a  second  lieutenant. 

3,000  BUILDINGS  NECESSARY 

More  than  3,000  separate  buildings  have  been  erected  (or  rented) 
to  make  possible  this  huge  work.  These  are  of  various  sorts,  from 
the  great  resorts  at  Aix  les  Bains,  where  our  soldiers  can  spend  their 
furloughs,  to  the  hostess  houses  at  the  cantonments  on  this  side.  In 
addition,  there  are  scores  of  warehouses  and  garages,  and  hundreds  of 
"huts"  which  consist  of  nothing  more  than  ruined  cellars  and  dug- 
outs in  war-demolished  towns  or  old-line  trenches. 

These  figures  do  not  include  the  buildings  occupied  by  the  organi- 
zations in  times  of  peace,  though  all  such  buildings  and  quarters  are 
at  the  disposal  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  All  are  supported  by  their 
regular  funds,  supplemented  by  contributions  entirely  apart  from 
those  funds. 

ALL  PULL  TOGETHER 

The  spirit  of  these  seven  organizations  is  uplifting  in  the  broadest 
sense  of  the  word.  They  depend  upon  people  of  ideals  for  support. 
Their  purpose  is  to  surround  each  boy,  so  far  as  possible,  with  the 
influences  that  were  best  in  his  life  at  home.  Differences  of  creed  or 
dogma  are  unknown.     The  W.  M.  C.  A.  and  The  Jewish  Welfare 

485 


JdOMMJ  FOLLOWED   THE  FLAG 

Board  work  side  by  side  with  no  thought  of  divergence  in  faith.  They 
are  as  one,  and  their  working  areed  is  service,  in  the  spirit  of  brother- 
hood to  all  men. 

These  are  842  libraries,  with  1,547  branches,  containing  more 
than  3,600,000  books  and  5,000,000  copies  of  periodicals.  In  the  navy- 
branches  are  maintained  250  additional  libraries  aboard  our  war  and 
mercantile  ships. 

Almost  every  family  in  the  United  States  having  a  son  in  the 
service  has  received  letters  written  on  the  stationery  of  one  or  other 
of  the  organizations,  for  together  they  supply  abundant  writing  ma- 
terials. They  supply  125,000,000  sheets  of  writing  paper  a  month, 
and  keep  on  hand  all  the  time  about  $500,000  worth  of  postage  stamps. 

A  soldier  boy  finds  himself  located  in  a  little  French  village  that 
before  the  war  sheltered  500  people  and  now  must  accommodate  as 
many  soldiers  besides.  His  sleeping  place  is  a  barn,  which  he  must 
share  with  forty  other  boys.  There  is  no  store  in  the  town,  no  theatre, 
no  library,  no  place  to  write  a  letter  or  be  warm  and  dry — until  the 
hut  comes. 

ALL  MODERN  IDEAS 

With  it  come  books  and  writing  paper  and  baseballs  and  bats  and 
boxing  gloves  and  chocolate  and  cigarettes  and  motion  pictures  and 
lectures  and  theatrical  entertainments.  Home  comes  with  the  hut, 
bringing  all  the  love  and  care  and  cheer  of  the  folks  who  have 
stayed  behind. 

The  boy  is  called  into  the  front  line  trenches.  He  is  there  through 
the  long  cold  night,  his  feet  wet,  his  whole  body  chilled  to  the  bone. 
As  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  announce  the  new  day,  a  shout  of  welcome 
runs  through  the  trench.  He  looks  to  see  a  secretary — Y,  or  K.  of  C, 
or  Jewish  Welfare  Board  or  Salvation  Army — it  matters  not.  Down 
the  trench  comes  this  secretary  with  chocolates  and  cigarettes,  dough- 
nuta  and  hot  coffee  or  cocoa — a  reminder  that  even  here,  in  front,  the 
love  and  care  of  the  folks  back  home  still  follow  him. 

CARING    FOR   THE   BOYS 

Is  he  wounded  ?  Aiding  the  stretcher  bearers,  the  secretaries  work 
side  by  side,  taking  the  wounded  back  to  the  dressing  stations. 

Is  he  taken  prisoner?  Even  in  the  prison  camp  the  long  arm  of 
these  friendly  organizations  reaches  out  to  aid  him.  In  Switzerland 
both  the  Y  and  the  K.  of  C.  have  established  headquarters,  and  through 
such  neutral  agencies  as  the  Danish  Red  Cross  they  carry  on  their 
program  of  help  even  in  the  enemy  prison  camps. 

Does  he  wish  to  send  money  back  to  the  folks  at  home?  The  Y 
M.  C.  A.  and  the  K.  of  C,  the  Jewish  Welfare  Board  and  the  Salvation 
Army  transmit  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  a  month  from  the 
front  to  mothers  and  sisters  and  wives  over  here. 

48« 


HOME  FOLLOWED  TEE  FLAG 

If  the  Boy  is  allowed  to  visit  the  armies  of  our  Allies  he  will  find 
that  they  too  have  asked  for  the  hut,  and  received  it.  More  than  a 
thousand  Y  huts  under  the  name  of  "Foyers  du  Soldat"  are  helping 
to  maintain  morale  in  the  French  army — erected  at  the  special  request 
of  the  French  Ministry  of  War.  The  King  of  Italy  made  a  personal 
request  for  the  extension  of  the  **Y"  work  to  his  armies.  The  men 
who  were  charged  with  the  task  of  winning  this  war  believed  that 
America  could  do  nothing  better  to  hasten  victory  than  to  extend  the 
influence  of  these  great  creators  and  conservers  of  morale  to  the  brave 
soldiers  of  our  Allies. 

The  cheer,  the  comfort,  the  recuperative  influence  of  these  united 
services  to  our  soldiers  cannot  be  overestimated.  They  are  incalculably 
valuable — and  they  are  purely  and  originally  American. 

WOUNDED   YANKS  ARE   CHEERPUIi 

A  Paris  correspondent  just  from  the  front  says — The  spirit  of 
American  soldiers  passing  through  casualty  stations  is  admirable.  One 
"doughboy"  from  Kansas,  hobbling  up  to  an  American  Red  Cross 
canteen  on  one  leg  and  crutches,  shouted,  "Here  I  come.  I'm  only 
hitting  on  three  cylinders,  but  still  able  to  get  about." 

Another  boasted  of  his  luck  because  he  had  only  three  shrapnel 
wounds,  one  in  his  hand,  one  in  his  shoulder  and  one  in  the  back. 

An  American  Red  Cross  canteen  at  a  receiving  station  often  offers 
men  their  first  chance  to  talk  over  their  experiences.  They  stand 
round  with  a  cup  of  chocolate  in  one  hand,  a  doughnut  in  the  other, 
and  fight  their  fights  over  again  until  officers  drive  them  to  the  dressing 
rooms. 

BOY  SCOUTS  PLAY  THEIR  PART  WELL 

"Boys  will  be  men,"  is  a  new  version  of  an  old  saying.  It  is 
justified  by  the  record  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America,  for  a  better 
formation  of  upright,  manly  character  never  was  achieved  by  any 
other  means.  That  Scout  training  makes  good  men  and  fine  soldiers 
has  been  amply  proven  on  a  broad  scale. 

November  1,  1918,  The  Boy  Scouts  of  America  had  a  registered 
membership  of  over  350,000,  and  applications  for  membership  were 
coming  in  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  a  day.  April  9,  1917,  three  days 
after  this  country  entered  the  war,  the  National  Council  of  the  organi- 
zation formally  resolved  "To  co-operate  with  the  Red  Cross  through 
its  local  chapters  in  meeting  their  responsibilities  occasioned  by  the 
state  of  war. ' '    The  members  have  nobly  followed  out  that  resolution. 

487 


HOME  FOLLOWED   THE  FLAG 

BOYS  HELP  MOST  WONDERFUL 

They  have  sold  liberty  bonds  in  the  amount  of  $206,179,150,  to 
1,349,165  individual  subscribers.  As  "dispatch  bearers  of  the  govern- 
ment" they  have  distributed  over  15,000,000  war  pamphlets.  They 
have  been  sedulous  and  invaluable  in  checking  enemy  propaganda. 
They  have  served  on  innumerable  public  occasions  as  police  aids  and 
as  ushers  at  great  meetings.  They  performed  one  feat  that  might  to 
many  have  appeared  impossible,  in  searching  out  for  the  war  depart- 
ment enough  black  walnut  trees  to  furnish  14,038,560  feet  of  board 
lumber  that  was  urgently  needed  for  gunstoeks  and  plane  propellors. 
They  have  been  tireless  in  supplementing  the  service  of  other  organiza- 
tions. And  they  never  make  any  display  of  their  work — they  just  do 
it,  and  keep  on  doing  it,  without  any  talk.  They  are  useful;  and 
every  man  who  was  a  boy  Ecout  is  a  better  man  for  having  been  one. 

THIRTY-THREE  Y.  M.   C.   A.  WORKERS  GIVE  LIVES  IN  WAR 

From  the  time  the  United  States  entered  the  war  up  to  the  sign- 
ing of  the  armistice,  thirty-three  Y.  M.  C.  A.  workers,  twenty-nine 
men  and  four  women,  have  given  up  their  lives  in  the  service  abroad. 

British  air  forces  kept  pace  with  the  German  armies  across  the 
Rhine.  In  the  last  five  months,  in  which  occurred  some  of  the 
heaviest  air  fighting  in  the  war,  Germany  lost  in  aerial  combats  with 
the  British  alone  1,837  machines.  It  is  estimated  that  something  like 
2,700  machines  were  accounted  for  by  the  British  since  June  1,  and 
to  this  total  may  be  added  the  heavy  destruction  wrought  by  French 
and  American  aviators. 

GREATEST   MAIL   SERVICE  IN   THE  WORLD 

The  mail  service  of  the  American  armies  in  France  and  Belgium 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkably  original  features  of  the  war.  Mail 
was  handled  by  postal  experts  from  home  in  such  manner  as  sent 
millions  of  letters  by  the  straightest  course  to  every  point  in  the 
United  States,  from  the  great  cities  down  to  the  smallest  hamlet. 

"sag*'  RELIEVED  POISON  GAS  VICTIMS 

American  soldiers  in  the  fighting  lines  were  furnished  with  tubes 
of  medicinal  paste  to  cure  mustard  gas  burns.  It  was  simply  smeared 
over  the  burned  patches,  or  rubbed  on  the  skin  to  prevent  burning. 
It  was  called  "sag,"  which  is  the  reverse  spelling  of  "gas." 

GERMANS  ABANDONED  MUCH  EQUIPMENT 

Wliile  they  were  chasing  the  Germans  after  they  had  broken  the 
Hindenburg  line,  American  soldiers  salvaged  enormous  quantities  of 
equipment  thrown  away  or  abandoned  by  the  boches  in  their  haste 
to  get  out  of  the  Americans'  way. 

488 


TERMS  OF  ARMISTICE  ON  WHICH  GERMANY 

SURRENDERS 

TERMS  OF  Germany's  surrender 

On  the  memorable  afternoon  of  Monday,  November  11,  1918, 
President  Wilson  convened  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Representa- 
i;ives  in  the  capitol  at  Washington,  and  there  read  out  the  terms  of  the 
armistice  which  Germany  had  accepted,  and  to  the  observance  of  which 
Germany  was  pledged  with  guaranties  so  strict  that  evasion  was  made 
impossible.  The  President  is  an  unemotional  man,  but  in  that  hour 
he  must  have  felt  deep  satisfaction  in  the  fact  that  the  document  in  his 
hand  had  been  made  possible  by  the  will  and  the  action  of  the  great 
nation  whose  chief  magistrate  he  was,  and  is — the  nation  that  with 
generous  hand  and  prompt  compliance  had  backed  him  at  every  step 
of  the  difficult  road  to  triumph  over  the  dark  forces  of  evil  that  had 
plagued  the  whole  earth  and  imperilled  the  very  life  of  civilization. 

His  audience  (the  legislative  arm  of  our  government  and  the  co- 
ordinate judiciary  arm  as  represented  by  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court;  the  members  of  the  President's  cabinet,  the  diplomatic  corps; 
and  high  officers  of  the  army  and  navy)  was  less  repressed.  As  the 
strongest  points  were  reached,  all  present  joined  in  mighty  applause. 

the  nation  listens  and  applauds 

The  whole  country  was  listening,  for  while  the  President's  voice 
was  being  heard  in  that  place,  the  wires  were  carrying  the  words  to 
every  city  and  hamlet  in  all  the  broad  land. 

The  armistice  had  been  signed  by  the  German  envoys  in  the  very 
last  hour  of  the  seventy-two  that  Marshal  Foch  had  granted  them. 
Long  before  daylight,  the  news  came  by  cable,  the  sirens  and  factory 
whistles  were  thrown  wide  open,  and  the  whole  population  of  the 
United  States,  men,  women  and  children,  roused  out  of  bed,  swarmed 
the  streets  and  highways,  and  gave  themselves  over  to  such  a  jubila- 
tion as  no  country  ever  before  had  seen — nor  any  previous  day  in  the 
story  of  the  human  race  had  called  for.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten ;  for 
by  reason  of  the  magnificent  and  final  victory  of  right  over  might, 
another  such  day  need  never  dawn. 

president  makes  armistice  public 
President  Wilson  in  making  public  the  armistice  terms  addressed 
the  governing  bodies  of  our  country  as  follows: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Congress:  In  these  anxious  times  of  rapid 
and  stupendous  change  it  will  in  some  degree  lighten  my  sense  of 
responsibility  to  perform  in  person  the  duty  of  communicating  to  you 
some  of  the  larger  circumstances  of  the  situation  with  which  it  is 
necessary  to  deal. 

489 


TERMS  OF  GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 

"The  German  authorities  who  have,  at  the  invitation  of  the  su- 
preme war  council,  been  in  communication  with  Marshal  Foch,  have 
accepted  and  signed  the  terms  of  armistice  which  he  was  authorized 
and  instructed  to  communicate  to  them. 

TERMS  OF  THE  ARMISTICE 

One — Cessation  of  operations  by  land  and  in  the  air  six  hours  after  the 
signature  of  the  armistice. 

Two — Immediate  evacuation  of  invaded  countries;  Belgium,  France, 
Alsace-Lorraine,  Luxemburg,  so  ordered  as  to  be  completed  within  fifteen  days 
from  the  signature  of  the  armistice.  German  troops  which  have  not  left  the 
above  mentioned  territories  within  the  period  fixed  will  become  prisoners  of 
wj(r.  Occupation  by  the  allied  and  United  States  forces  jointly  will  keep  pace 
with  evacuation  in  these  areas.  All  movements  of  evacuation  and  occupation 
will  be  regulated  in  accordance  with  a  note  annexed  to  the  stated  terms. 

Three — Repatriation,  beginning  at  once  and  to  be  completed  within  fifteen 
days,  of  all  inhabitants  of  the  countries  above  mentioned,  including  hostages 
and  persons  under  trial  or  convicted. 

MUST  SURRENDER  MILITARY  SUPPLIES 

Four — Surrender  in  good  condition  by  the  German  armies  of  the  following 
equipment:  Five  thousand  guns  (2,500  heavy,  2,500  field),  25,000  machine 
guns,  3,000  minenwerfer  (mine  throwers),  1,700  aeroplanes  (fighters,  bombers, 
firstly  I)-73's  and  night  bombing  machines).  The  above  to  be  delivered  in  situ 
to  the  allies  and  the  United  States  troops  in  accordance  with  the  detailed  condi- 
tions laid  down  in  the  annexed  note. 

Five — Evacuation  by  the  German  armies  of  the  countries  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Ehine.  These  countries  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  shall  be  admin- 
istered by  the  local  troops  of  occupation  under  the  control  of  the  allied  and 
United  States  armies  of  occupation.  The  occupation  of  these  territories  will 
be  carried  out  by  allied  and  United  States  garrisons  holding  the  principal  cross- 
ings of  the  Rhine— Mayence,  Coblenz,  Cologne — together  with  bridgeheads  at 
these  points  in  thirty  kilometer  radius  on  the  right  bank  and  by  garrisons  sim- 
ilarly holding  the  strategic  pointa  of  the  regions.  A  neutral  zone  shall  be 
reserved  on  the  right  of  the  Rhine  between  the  stream  and  a  line  drawn  parallel 
to  it  forty  kilometers  to  the  east  from  the  frontier  of  Holland  to  the  parallel  of 
Gernsheim  and  as  far  as  practicable  a  distance  of  thirty  kilometers  from  the 
east  of  the  stream  from  this  parallel  upon  the  Swiss  frontier.  Evac.  ation  by 
the  enemy  of  the  Rhine  lands  shall  be  so  ordered  as  to  be  completed  within  a 
further  period  of  eleven  days,  in  all  nineteen  days  after  the  signature  of  the 
armistice.  All  movements  of  evacuation  and  occupation  will  be  regulated 
according  to  the  note  annexed. 

Six — In  all  territory  evacuated  by  the  enemy  there  shall  be  no  evacuation 
of  inhabitants;  no  damage  or  harm  shall  be  done  to  the  persons  or  property  of 
the  inhabitants;  no  person  shall  be  prosecuted  for  participation  in  war  measures 
prior  to  the  signing  of  this  armistice.  No  destruction  of  any  kind  to  be  com- 
mitted. Military  establishments  of  all  kinds  shall  be  delivered  intact,  as  well 
as  military  stores  of  food,  munitions,  equipment  not  removed  during  the  periods 
fixed  for  evacuation.  Stores  of  food  of  all  kinds  for  the  civil  population,  cattle, 
etc.,  shall  be  left  in  situ.  Industrial  establishments  shall  not  be  impaired  in 
any  way  and  their  personnel  shall  not  be  moved.  Roads  and  means  of  com- 
munication of  every  kind,  railroad,  waterways,  main  roads,  bridges,  telegraphs, 
telephones,  shall  be  in  no  manner  impaired. 

490 


TERMS  OF  GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 

Seven — All  civil  and  military  personnel  at  present  employed  on  them  shall 
remain.  Five  thousand  locomotives,  150,000  wagons  and  5,000  motor  lorries  in 
good  working  order,  vpith  all  necessary  spare  parts  and  fittings,  shall  be  deliv- 
ered to  the  associated  powers  within  the  period  fixed  for  the  evacuation  of 
Belgium  and  Luxemburg.  The  railways  of  Alsaee-Lorraine  shall  be  handed  over 
within  the  same  period,  together  with  all  pre-war  personnel  and  material.  Fur- 
ther material  necessary  for  the  working  of  railways  in  the  country  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Ehine  shall  be  left  in  situ.  All  stores  of  coal  and  material  for 
upkeep  of  permanent  ways,  signals  and  repair  shops  left  entire  in  situ  and 
kept  in  an  efficient  state  by  Germany  during  the  whole  period  of  armistice.  All 
barges  taken  from  the  allies  shall  be  restored  to  them.  A  note  appended 
regulates  the  details  of  these  measures. 

MUST  EEVEAL  ALL  MINES 

Eight — The  German  command  shall  be  responsible  for  revealing  within 
forty-eight  hours  all  mines  or  delay-acting  fuses  deposed  on  territory  evacuated 
by  the  German  troops,  and  shall  assist  in  th»ir  discovery  and  destruction.  The 
German  command  shall  also  reveal  all  destructive  measures  that  may  have 
been  taken  (such  as  poisoning  or  polluting  of  springs,  wells,  etc.),  under  penalty 
of  reprisals. 

Nine — The  right  of  requisition  shall  be  exercised  by  the  allies  and  the 
United  States  armies  in  all  occupied  territory.  The  upkeep  of  the  troops  of 
occupation  in  the  Bhineland  (excluding  Alsace-Lorraine)  shall  be  charged  to 
the  German  government,  subject  to  the  regulation  of  accounts  with  those  whom 
it  may  concern. 

Ten — An  immediate  repatriation  without  reciprocity  according  to  detailed 
conditions,  which  shall  be  fixed,  of  all  allied  and  United  States  prisoners  of 
war.  The  allied  powers  and  the  United  States  shall  be  able  to  dispose  of  these 
prisoners  as  they  wish.  This  condition  annuls  the  previous  conventions  on 
the  subject  of  the  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war,  including  the  one  of  July,  1918, 
in  course  of  ratification.  However,  the  repatriation  of  German  prisoners  of 
war  interned  in  Holland  and  Switzerland  shall  continue  as  before.  The  repat- 
riation of  German  prisoners  of  war  shall  be  regulated  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
preliminaries   of  peace. 

Eleven — Sick  and  wounded  who  cannot  be  removed  from  evacuated  terri- 
tory will  be  eared  for  by  German  personnel,  who  will  be  left  on  the  spot  with 
the  medical  material  required. 

Twelve — All  German  troops  at  present  in  any  territory  which  before  the 
war  belonged  to  Eoumania  or  Turkey  shall  withdraw  within  the  frontiers  of 
Germany  as  they  existed  on  August  1,  1914.  Territory  which  belonged  to  Aus- 
tria-Hungary is  added  to  that  from  which  the  Germans  must  withdraw  imme- 
diately, and  as  to  territory  which  belonged  to  Russia  it  is  provided  that  the 
German  troops  now  there  shall  withdraw  within  the  frontiers  of  Germany  as 
soon  as  the  allies,  taking  into  account  the  internal  situation  of  those  terri- 
tories, shall  decide  that  the  time  for  this  has  come. 

Thirteen — Evacuation  by  German  troops  to  begin  at  once  and  all  German 
instructors,  prisoners,  and  civilian,  as  well  as  military  agents,  now  on  the  terri- 
tory of  Russia  (as  defined  before  1914)  to  be  recalled. 

Fourteen — German  troops  to  cease  at  once  all  requisitions  and  seizures  and 
any  other  undertaking  with  a  view  to  obtaining  supplies  intended  for  Germany 
in  Eoumania  and  Russia  (as  defined  on  August  1,  1914). 

Fifteen — Denunciation  of  the  treaties  of  Bucharest  and  Brest-Litovsk  and 
of  the  supplementary  treaties. 

491 


TEEMS  OF  GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 

Sixteen — The  allies  shall  have  free  access  to  the  territories  evacuated  by 
the  Germans  on  their  eastern  frontier,  either  through  Danzig  or  by  the  Vistula, 
in  order  to  convey  supplies  to  the  populations  of  those  territories  and  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  order. 

Seventeen — Evacuation  by  all  German  forces  operating  in  East  Africa 
within  a  period  to  be  fixed  by  the  allies. 

REPATRIATION  AND  REPARATION 

Eighteen — Eepatriation,  without  reciprocity,  within  a  maximum  period  of 
one  month,  in  accordance  with  detailed  conditions  hereafter  to  be  fixed,  of  all 
civilians  interned  or  deported  who  may  be  citizens  of  other  allied  or  asso- 
ciated states  than  those  mentioned  in  clause  three,  paragraph  nineteen,  with 
the  reservation  that  any  future  claims  and  demands  of  the  allies  and  the 
United  States  of  America  remain  unaffected. 

Nineteen — The  following  financial  conditions  are  required: 
Reparation  for  damage  done.  While  such  armistice  lasts  no  public  secur- 
ities shall  be  removed  by  the  enemy  which  can  serve  as  a  pledge  to  the  allies 
for  the  recovery  or  repatriation  for  war  losses.  Immediate  restitution  of  the 
cash  deposit  in  the  National  Bank  of  Belgium,  and  in  general  immediate 
return  of  all  documents,  specie,  stocks,  shares,  paper  money,  together  with 
plant  for  the  issue  thereof,  touching  public  or  private  interests  in  the  invaded 
countries.  Eestitution  of  the  Eussian  and  Roumanian  gold  yielded  to  Germany 
or  taken  by  that  power.  This  gold  to  be  delivered  in  trust  to  the  allies  until 
the  signature  of  peace. 

Twenty — Immediate  cessation  of  all  hostilities  at  sea  and  definite  infor- 
mation to  be  given  as  to  the  location  and  movements  of  all  German  ships.  Noti- 
fication to  be  given  to  neutral*  that  freedom  of  navigation  in  all  territorial 
waters  is  given  to  the  naval  and  mercantile  marines  of  the  allied  and  asso- 
ciated powers,  all  questions  of  neutrality  being  waived. 

Twenty-one — All  naval  and  mercantile  marine  prisoners  of  war  of  the 
allied  and  associated  powers  in  German  hands  to  be  returned  without  reci- 
procity. 

Twenty-two — Surrender  to  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America 
of  all  German  submarines  now  existing  (including  all  submarine  cruisers  and 
mine-laying  submarines),  with  their  complete  armament  and  equipment,  in  ports 
which  will  be  specified  by  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America.  Those 
that  cannot  take  the  sea  shall  be  disarmed  of  their  material  and  personnel  and 
shall  remain  under  the  supervision  of  the  allies  and  the  United  States. 

Twenty-three — The  following  German  surface  warships,  which  shall  be 
designated  by  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America,  shall  forthwith  be 
disarmed  and  thereafter  interned  in  neutral  ports,  or,  for  the  want  of  them, 
in  allied  ports  to  be  designated  by  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America 
and  placed  under  the  surveillance  of  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, only  caretakers  being  left  on  board — namely:  Six  battle  cruisers,  ten 
battleships,  eight  light  cruisers  (including  two  mine  layers),  fifty  destroyers  of 
the  most  modern  type.  All  other  surface  warships  (including  river  craft) 
are  to  be  concentrated  in  German  naval  bases  to  be  designated  by  the  allies 
and  the  United  States  of  America,  and  are  to  be  paid  off  and  completely  dis- 
armed and  placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of 
America.  All  vessels  of  the  auxiliary  fleet  (trawlers,  motor  vessels,  etc.)  are  to 
be  disarmed.  Vessels  designated  for  internment  shall  be  ready  to  leave  German 
ports  within  seven  days  upon  direction  by  wireless.  The  military  armament  of 
all  vessels  of  the  auxiliary  fleet  shall  be  put  on  shore. 

Twcuty-four— The  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  shall  havo  the 

492 


TERMS  OF  GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 

right  to  sweep  up  all  mine  fields  and  obstructions  laid  by  Germany  outside 
German  territorial  waters  and  the  positions  of  these  are  to  be  indicated. 

Twenty-five — Freedom  of  access  to  and  from  the  Baltic  to  be  given  to  the 
naval  and  mercantile  marines  of  the  allied  and  associated  powers.  To  secure 
this,  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America  shall  be  empowered  to  occupy 
all  German  forts,  fortifications,  batteries,  and  defense  works  of  all  kinds  in  all 
the  entraneeJ3  from  the  Cattegat  into  the  Baltic,  and  to  sweep  up  all  mines  and 
obstructions  within  and  without  German  territorial  waters  without  any  ques- 
ion  of  neutrality  being  raised,  and  the  positions  of  all  such  mines  and  obstruc- 
tions are  to  be  indicated. 

Twenty-six — The  existing  blockade  conditions  set  up  by  the  allies  and  asso- 
ciated powers  are  to  remain  unchanged,  and  all  German  merchant  ships  found 
at  sea  are  to  remain  liable  to  capture.  The  allies  and  the  United  States  shall 
give  consideration  to  the  provisioning  of  Germany  during  the  armistice  to  the 
extent  recognized  as  necessary. 

Twenty-seven — All  naval  aircraft  are  to  be  concentrated  and  immobilized 
in  German  ba^es  to  be  specified  by  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America. 

Twenty-eight — In  evacuating  the  Belgian  coasts  and  ports,  Germany  shall 
abandon  all  merchant  ships,  tugs,  lighters,  cranes,  and  all  other  harbor  materials, 
all  materials  for  inland  navigation,  all  aircraft  and  all  materials  and  stores,  all 
arms,  and  armaments,  and  all  stores  and  apparatus  of  all  kinds. 

EVACUATED  ALL  BLACK  SEA  PORTS 

Twenty-nine — All  Black  Sea  ports  are  to  be  evacuated  by  Germany;  all 
Russian  war  vessels  of  all  descriptions  seized  by  Germany  in  the  Black  Sea  are 
to  be  handed  over  to  the  allies  and  the  United  States  of  America;  all  neutral 
merchant  vessels  seized  are  to  be  released;  all  warlike  and  other  materials  of 
all  kinds  seized  in  those  ports  are  to  be  returned  and  German  materials  as 
speeified  in  clause  twenty-eight  are  to  be  abandoned. 

Thirty — All  merchant  vessels  in  German  hands  belonging  to  the  allied  and 
associated  powers  are  to  be  restored  in  ports  to  be  specified  by  the  allies  and 
the  United  States  of  America  without  reciprocity. 

Thirty-one — No  destruction  of  ships  or  of  materials  to  be  permitted  before 
evacuation,  surrender,  or  restoration. 

Thirty-two — The  German  government  will  notify  the  neutral  governments 
of  the  world,  and  particularly  the  governments  of  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
and  Holland,  that  all  restrictions  placed  on  the  trading  of  their  vessels  with 
the  allied  and  associated  countries,  whether  by  the  German  government  or  by 
private  German  interests,  and  whether  in  return  for  specific  concessions,  such 
as  the  export  of  shipbuilding  materials  or  not,  are  immediately  canceled. 

Thirty-three — No  transfers  of  German  merchant  shipping  of  any  description 
to  any  neutral  flag  are  to  take  place  after  signature  of  the  armistice. 

Thirty-four — The  duration  of  the  armistice  is  to  be  thirty  days,  with  option 
to  extend.  During  this  period,  on  failure  of  execution  of  any  of  the  above 
clauses,  the  armistice  may  be  denounced  by  one  of  the  contracting  parties  on 
forty-eight  hours'  previous  notice. 

It  is  understood  that  the  execution  of  articles  three  and  eighteen  shall  not 
warrant  the  denunciation  of  the  armistice  on  the  ground  of  insufiicient  execu- 
tion within  a  period  fixed  except  in  the  case  of  bad  faith  in  carrying  them  into 
execution.  In  order  to  assure  the  execution  of  this  convention  under  the  best 
conditions  the  principle  of  a  permanent  international  armistice  commission  is 
admitted.  This  commission  shall  act  under  the  authority  of  the  allied  military 
and  naval  commanders-in-chief. 

493 


TERMS  OF  GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 

Thirty-five — This  armistice  to  be  accepted  or  refused  by  Germany  within 
aeventy-two  hours  of  notification, 

president's  comment  on  armistice 

* '  The  war  thus  comes  to  an  end ;  for,  having  accepted  these  terms 
of  armistice,  it  will  be  impossible  for  the  German  command  to  renew  it. 

"It  is  not  now  possible  to  assess  the  consequences  of  this  great 
consummation.  We  know  only  that  this  tragical  war,  whose  consum- 
ing flames  swept  from  one  nation  to  another  until  all  the  world  was  on 
fire,  is  at  an  end  and  that  it  was  the  privilege  of  our  own  people  to 
enter  it  at  its  most  critical  juncture  in  such  fashion  and  in  such  force 
as  to  contribute,  in  a  way  of  which  we  are  all  deeply  proud,  to  the 
great  result. 

*'We  know,  too,  that  the  object  of  the  war  is  attained;  the  object 
upon  which  all  free  men  had  set  their  hearts;  and  attained  with  a 
sweeping  completeness  which  even  now  we  do  not  realize. 

"Armed  imperialism,  such  as  the  men  conceived  who  were  but 
yesterday  the  masters  of  Germany,  is  at  an  end,  its  illicit  ambitions 
engulfed  in  black  disaster.  Who  will  now  seek  to  revive  it?  The 
arbitrary  power  of  the  military  caste  of  Germany,  which  once  could 
secretly  and  of  its  own  single  choice  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world,  is 
discredited  and  destroyed. 

"And  more  than  that — much  more  than  that — ^has  been  ac- 
complished. The  great  nations  which  associated  themselves  to  destroy 
it  had  now  definitely  united  in  the  common  purpose  to  set  up  such 
a  peace  as  will  satisfy  the  longing  of  the  whole  world  for  disinterested 
justice,  embodied  in  settlements  which  are  based  upon  something  much 
better  and  much  more  lasting  than  selfish  competitive  interests  of 
powerful  states. 

"There  is  no  longer  conjecture  as  to  the  objects  the  victors  have 
in  mind.  They  have  a  mind  in  the  matter,  not  only,  but  a  heart  also. 
Their  avowed  and  concerted  purpose  is  to  satisfy  and  protect  the 
weak  as  well  as  to  accord  their  just  rights  to  the  strong. 

"The  humane  temper  and  intention  of  the  victorious  governments 
has  already  been  manifested  in  a  very  practical  way.  Their  repre- 
sentatives in  the  supreme  war  council  at  Versailles  have  by  unanimous 
resolution  assured  the  people  of  the  central  empires  that  everything 
that  is  possible  in  the  circumstances  will  be  done  to  supply  them  with 
food  and  relieve  the  distressing  want  that  is  in  so  many  places  threat- 
ening their  very  lives ;  and  steps  are  to  be  taken  immediately  to  organ- 
ize these  efforts  at  relief  in  the  same  systematic  manner  that  they  were 
organized  in  the  case  of  Belgium. 

"For,  with  the  fall  of  the  ancient  governments  which  rested  like 
an  incubus  upon  the  people  of  the  central  empires,  has  come  political 
change  not  merely,  but  revolution ;  and  revolution  which  seems  as  yet 
to  assume  no  final  and  ordered  form. 


TERMS  OF  GERMANY'S  SURRENDER 


ci- 


'Excesses  accomplish  nothing.  Unhappy  Russia  has  furnished 
abundant  recent  proof  of  that.  Disorder  immediately  defeats  itself. 
If  excesses  should  occur,  if  disorder  should  for  a  time  raise  its  head, 
a  sober  second  thought  will  follow  and  a  day  of  constructive  action, 
if  we  help  and  do  not  hinder. 

* '  To  conquer  with  arms  is  to  make  only  a  temporary  conquest ;  to 
conquer  the  world  by  earning  its  esteem  is  to  make  permanent  con- 
quest. I  am  confident  that  the  nations  that  have  learned  the  discipline 
of  freedom  and  that  have  settled  with  self-possession  to  its  ordered 
practice  are  now  about  to  make  conquest  of  the  world  by  the  sheer 
power  of  example  and  of  friendly  helpfulness. 

**The  peoples  who  have  but  just  come  out  from  under  the  yoke  of 
arbitrary  government  and  who  are  now  coming  at  last  into  their  free- 
dom will  never  find  the  treasures  of  liberty  they  are  in  search  of  if 
they  look  for  them  by  the  light  of  the  torch.  They  will  find  that  every 
pathway  that  is  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  own  brothers  leads 
to  the  wilderness,  not  to  the  seat  of  their  hope. 

*'They  are  now  face  to  face  with  their  initial  tests.  We  must 
hold  the  light  steady  until  they  find  themselves.  And  in  the  meantime, 
if  it  be  possible,  we  must  establish  a  peace  that  will  justly  define  their 
place  among  the  nations,  remove  all  fear  of  their  neighbors  and  of  their 
former  masters,  and  enable  them  to  live  in  security  and  contentment 
when  they  have  set  their  own  affairs  in  order. 

"If  they  do  we  shall  put  our  aid  at  their  disposal  in  every  way 
that  we  can.  If  they  do  not  we  must  await  with  patience  and  sym- 
pathy the  awakening  and  recovery  that  will  assuredly  come  at  last." 


GERMAN  MALTREATMENT  OP  PRISONERS 

Prisoners  set  free  under  terms  of  the  armistice  brought  back  tales 
of  their  almost  unbelievably  barbarous  treatment  in  German  prison 
camps.  A  correspondent,  Philip  Gibbs,  describes  some  of  them  as 
living  skeletons.  Of  one  typical  group  he  says  "they  were  so  thin 
and  weak  they  could  scarcely  walk,  and  had  dry  skins,  through 
which  their  cheekbones  stood  out,  and  the  look  of  men  who  had  been 
buried  and  come  to  life  again.  Many  of  them  were  covered  with 
blotches.  'It  was  six  months  of  starvation,'  said  one  young  man 
who  was  a  mere  wreck.  They  told  me  food  was  so  scarce  and  they 
were  tortured  with  hunger  so  vile  that  some  of  them  had  a  sort  of 
dropsy  and  swelled  up  horribly,  and  died.  After  they  left  their 
prison  camp  they  were  so  weak  and  ill  they  could  hardly  hobble  along  ; 
and  some  of  them  died  on  the  way  back,  at  the  very  threshhold  of 
new  life  on  this  side  of  the  line. ' ' 

495 


•  pe^t^S 


^/gV  t  T  z  g  Rt^ A  Im  cy  ^'<^ 


MAP  OF  WORLD  WAR  ZONE 
Showing  Final  Battle  Line  from  Holland  to   Switzerland.     Shaded  Portion   Shows 

German  Territory  Evacuated. 

1.  r.hine  line  to  be  occupied  by  Allied  troops  as  provided  in  Armistice,  showiHg 
cities  and  brdseheads. 

2.  Neutral  Zone  Line  as  provided  by  terms  of  Armistice. 


496 


HONORS  TO  PERSHING  AND  FOCH 

HONOR  TO  THE  VICTORS 

November  16,  1918,  the  American  Distinguished  Service  Medal 
was  conferred  upon  General  Pershing  at  his  headquarters  in  the  field 
by  General  Tasker  H.  Bliss,  representing  President  Wilson.  The 
ceremony  was  witnessed  by  the  members  of  the  allied  missions,  and 
was  most  impressive.  Admiral  Benson,  representing  the  United 
States  Navy,  and  William  G.  Sharp,  American  Ambassador  to  France, 
were  also  present. 

Service  Medal  to  General.  Pershestg 

General  Bliss,  in  presenting  the  decoration,  read  this  order  issued 
by  Newton  T.  Baker,  Secretary  of  War: 

' '  The  President  directs  you  to  say  to  Gen.  Pershing  that  he  awards 
the  medal  to  the  commander  of  our  armies  in  the  field  as  a  token  of  the 
gratitude  of  the  American  people  for  his  distinguished  services  and  in 
appreciation  of  the  successes  which  our  armies  have  achieved  under  his 
leadership. ' ' 

After  reading  the  order  General  Bliss  called  to  mind  that  when 
the  first  division  went  away  many  doubted  if  it  would  be  followed  by 
another  for  at  least  a  year. 

*'But,"  he  added,  "you  have  created  and  organized  and  trained 
here  on  the  soil  of  France  an  American  army  of  between  two  and  two 
and  a  half  million  men.  You  have  created  the  agencies  for  its  recep- 
tion, its  transportation  and  supply.  To  the  delight  of  all  of  us  you 
have  consistently  adhered  to  your  ideal  of  an  American  army  under 
American  officers  and  American  leadership. 

"And  I  know  that  I  speak  for  our  president,  when  I  say  that,  as 
to  those  who  have  died,  the  good  God  has  given  eternal  rest,  so  may 
He  give  to  us  eternal  peace." 

At  a  previous  date,  and  while  hostilities  were  stiil  in  course. 
Marshal  Foch  had  conferred  upon  General  Pershing  the  grand  cordon 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  names  of  these  two  great  commanders, 
reflecting  supreme  honor  upon  their  respective  countries,  have  become 
imperishable  in  the  records  of  civilization.  Their  careers  present 
unusual  analogy.  They  were  bred  to  the  art  of  war,  and  stand  among 
the  foremost  in  the  roll  of  great  soldiers  who  have  fought  for  and 
established  Peace,  in  many  lands  and  many  ages. 

Pershing's  splendid  record 
John  Joseph  Pershing  was  born  September  30,  1860,  in  Linn 
county,  Missouri,  to  John  F.  and  Ann  E.  (Thompson)  Pershing.  He 
was  given  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  by  the  Kirksville  (Missouri) 
normal  school  in  1880 ;  graduated  at  West  Point  in  1886 ;  was  made 
Bachelor  of  Laws  by  the  University  of  Nebraska  in  1893;  married 
Francis  H.  Warren,  daughter  of  Senator  Warren  of  Wyoming,  at 
iWashington,  January  28,  1905.     (His  wife  and  two  daughters  per- 

497 


HONORS  TO  PERSHING  AND  FOGH 

ished  in  the  fire  at  the  Presidio,  San  Francisco,  August  15,  1915.)  He 
was  commissioned  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  6th  cavalry  July  1,  1886 ; 
became  a  captain  in  the  10th  cavalry  October  20,  1892.  Passed 
through  the  other  grades  up  to  that  of  Brigadier  General  in  1913, 
after  the  battle  of  Bagsag,  P.  I.,  in  June  of  that  year.  Had  seen 
service  in  several  Indian  campaigns,  in  Cuba  and  the  Phillipines,  and 
was  United  States  military  attache  with  the  army  of  General  Kuroko 
in  the  war  between  Japan  and  Russia.  Later  was  officer  commanding 
at  the  Presidio,  going  thence  to  the  Mexican  border  in  1913.  Was  in 
command  of  the  troops  that  went  into  Mexico  in  pursuit  of  Pancho 
Villa  in  1916.  When  the  United  States  entered  the  European  war  he 
was  placed  in  command.  Here  was  displayed  in  full  not  only  his 
genius  as  a  soldier,  but  as  an  organizer  of  the  very  highest  skill.  His 
home  is  in  Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

HONORS   TO   MARSHAL  POOH 

At  Senlis  in  France  on  Tuesday,  November  12th,  the  day  after 
the  armistice  was  signed.  General  Pershing  conferred  upon  Marshal 
Foch  the  American  Distinguished  Service  Medal.  The  presentation 
was  made  in  the  name  of  President  Wilson,  at  the  villa  where  Marshal 
Foch  had  his  headquarters  ,and  was  an  impressive  ceremony. 

A  guard  of  honor  was  drawn  up  and  trumpeters  blew  a  fanfare 
as  Marshal  Foch,  with  General  Pershing  on  his  right,  took  position  a 
few  paces  in  front  of  the  guard.     General  Pershing  said: 

' '  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  created  this  medal  to  be 
conferred  upon  those  who  have  rendered  distinguished  service  to  our 
country.  President  Wilson  has  directed  me  to  present  to  you  the  first 
of  these  medals  in  the  name  of  the  United  States  Government  and  the 
American  army,  as  an  expression  of  their  admiration  and  their  confi- 
dence. It  is  a  token  of  the  gratitude  of  the  American  people  for  your 
great  achievements.  I  am  very  happy  to  have  been  given  the  honor  of 
presenting  this  medal  to  you." 

In  accepting  the  decoration,  Marshal  Foch  said: 

*'I  will  wear  this  medal  with  pleasure  and  pride.  In  days  of 
triumph,  as  well  as  in  dark  and  critical  hours,  I  will  never  forget  the 
tragical  day  last  March  when  General  Pershing  put  at  my  disposal, 
without  restriction,  all  the  resources  of  the  American  army.  The 
success  won  in  the  hard  fighting  by  the  American  army  is  the  conse- 
quence of  the  excellent  conception,  command  and  organization  of  the 
American  General  Staff,  and  the  irreducible  will  to  win  of  the  Amer- 
ican troops.  The  name  'Meuse'  may  be  inscribed  proudly  upon  the 
American  flag." 

MARSHAL  FOCH's  RECORD 

Ferdinand  Foch,  Marshal  of  France,  was  born  at  Tarbes  in  the 
French  Pyrenees,  August  4th  of  1851 — a  year  during  which  all 
Europe  was  agitated  by  the  approach  of  war.    His  earlier  education, 


UNITED  STATES  IN  THE  WAR 

largely  religious,  was  had  at  the  schools  of  Saint  Etienne,  Rodez  and 
Metz.  In  his  twentieth  year  he  entered  the  Ecole  Polytechnique  at 
Paris  for  a  course  of  instruction  in  military  science,  after  which  he 
was  commissioned  a  lieutenant  in  the  artillery  branch  of  the  French 
army,  rising  to  a  captaincy  in  1878. 

In  1892,  with  the  rank  of  major,  he  became  an  instructor  in  the 
war  school,  specializing  in  military  history  and  theory.  He  returned 
to  army  service  as  a  lieutenant  colonel  in  1901,  and  in  1907  was  made 
a  general  of  brigade.  Shortly  thereafter,  at  the  close  of  a  term  in 
command  of  artillery  in  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  he  was  put  at  the 
head  of  the  war  school. 

When  war  broke  out  in  August,  1914,  General  Foch  was  in  charge 
of  the  military  post  at  Nancy,  a  point  commanding  the  way  between 
the  Vosges  mountains  and  the  Duchy  of  Luxemburg.  When  the 
Germans  came  down  toward  the  Marne  and  the  situation  in  the  field 
became  very  critical,  his  controlling  doctrine  of  attack  was  brought 
into  brilliant  play. 

The  part  of  the  French  line  under  his  command  being  endangered, 
he  reported  to  Marshal  Joffre:  "My  right  wing  is  suffering  severe 
pressure.  My  left  is  suffering  from  heavy  assaults.  I  am  about  to 
attack  with  my  centre." 

He  did.  That  attack  stopped  the  German  advance,  turned  their 
forces  from  the  road  to  Paris,  and  sent  them  suddenly  southward. 

Looking  back  over  those  days,  it  is  seen  now  that  this  action 
marked  the  shock-point  of  the  war.  It  disjointed  the  whole  German 
plan,  saved  France,  and  gave  France  and  England  time  to  raise  and 
equip  their  armies,  and  mobilize  their  industrial  resources.  The 
German  high  command  had  promised  the  German  people  to  finish  the 
war  in  six  weeks.  General  Foch  inaugurated  their  finish  in  less  than 
foup. 

His  operations  since  that  time  are  well  remembered.  Down  to 
the  day  when  at  President  Wilson's  earnest  urging  he  was  placed  in 
supreme  command  of  the  allied  armies  on  all  fronts,  March  29,  1918, 
he  had  been  steadily  victorious.  The  week  before,  the  Germans  had 
begun  their  last  and  most  powerful  "drive."  The  manner  in  which 
General  Foch  sold  terrain  to  them  for  the  highest  price  they  could 
be  made  to  pay  in  German  lives  is  understood  now,  and  admired. 
When  he  had  teased  them  along  and  worn  them  down,  he  sharply 
altered  his  strategy  and  attacked  with  a  force  and  continuity  so 
terrific  that  it  practically  destroyed  the  German  armies,  and  com- 
pelled Germany  to  beg  for  the  armistice  that  ended  the  war.  From 
July  18,  1918,  down  to  November  11,  he  pounded  and  powdered  the 
enemy  without  cessation. 

It  is  a  matter  of  which  Americans  may  well  be  proud  that  Marshal 

499 


UNITED  STATES  IN   THE  WAR 

Foch,  with  keen  judgment  and  knowledge  of  military  values,  selected 
the  first  and  second  divisions  of  the  United  States  regular  army  to 
strike  the  first  blow  in  that  tremendous  assault.  The  only  other  troops 
peu-ticipating  were  those  of  a  French  colonial  division,  from  Morocco. 

GENERAL  PERSHING'S  THANKSGIVING  ADDRESS 

Thanksgiving  Day,  1918,  was  celebrated  in  the  most  befitting 
manner  at  the  American  Army  headquarters  in  France,  After 
Bishop  Brent 's  benediction,  a  band  concert  was  given.  General  Persh- 
ing then  addressed  his  victorious  army  as  follows: 

''Fellow  soldiers:  Never  in  the  history  of  our  country  have  we 
as  a  people,  come  together  with  such  full  hearts  as  on  this  greatest 
of  all  Thanksgiving  days.  The  moment  throbs  with  emotion,  seek- 
ing to  find  full  expression.  Representing  the  high  ideals  of  our 
countrymen  and  cherishing  the  spirit  of  our  forefathers  who  first 
celebrated  this  festival  of  Thanksgiving,  we  are  proud  to  have  repaid 
a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  land  of  Lafayette  and  to  have  lent  our  aid 
in  saving  civilization  from  destruction. 

"The  unscrupulous  invader  has  been  driven  from  the  devastated 
scenes  of  his  unholy  conquest.  The  tide  of  conflict  which  during  the 
dark  days  of  midsummer  threatened  to  overwhelm  the  allied  forces 
has  been  turned  into  glorious  victory.  As  the  sounds  of  battle  die 
away  and  the  beaten  foe  hurries  from  the  field  it  is  fitting  that  the 
conquering  armies  should  pause  to  give  thanks  to  the  God  of  Battles, 
who  has  guided  our  cause  aright. 

"victory  oue  goal" 

"Victory  was  our  goal.  It  is  a  hard  won  gift  of  the  soldier  to 
his  country. 

"In  this  hour  of  thanksgiving  our  eternal  gratitude  goes  out  to 
those  heroes  who  loved  liberty  better  than  life,  who  sleep  yonder, 
where  they  fell ;  to  the  maimed,  whose  honorable  scars  testify  stronger 
than  words  to  their  splendid  valor,  and  to  the  brave  fellows  whose 
strong,  relentless  blows  finally  crushed  the  enemy's  power, 

"Nor  in  our  prayer  shall  we  forget  the  widow  who  freely  gave 
the  husband  more  precious  than  her  life,  nor  those  who,  in  hidden 
heroism,  have  impoverished  themselves  to  enrich  the  cause,  nor  our 
comrades  who  in  more  obscure  posts  here  and  at  home  have  furnished 
their  toll  to  the  soldiers  at  the  front, 

' '  Great  cause,  indeed,  have  we  to  thank  God  for  trials  successfully 
met  and  victories  won.  Still  more  should  we  thank  Him  for  the 
golden  future,  with  its  wealth  of  opportunity  and  its  hope  of  a 
permanent,  universal  peace. ' ' 


UNITED  STATES  IN   TEE   WAB 

THE  HOMECOMING  OP  KING  ALBERT 

The  world  rejoiced  with  Belgium  when  King  Albert  and  the 
Queen  returned  in  triumph  to  Brussels,  November  21,  1918,  just  a 
little  over  four  years  after  the  bodeful  day  when  they  left  it,  in  1914. 
Belgium,  the  first  martyr  to  German  ferocity,  had  come  back  to  its 
own — ^had  justified  the  historic  words  of  its  King  to  the  Insolent  Ger- 
mans, "Belgium  is  a  country,  not  a  road,"  and  stood  firm,  a  David 
of  the  Nations,  against  the  onslaught  of  the  most  awful  and  bloody 
hordes  the  world  has  seen  since  Attila,  the  other  Hun,  drove  with  his 
swarming  savages  over  Europe,  centuries  ago,  roaring  that  grass  would 
never  grow  again  where  their  horses  trod. 

Civilization  had  been  justified.  The  "scrap  of  paper"  had  come 
to  life.  It  was  a  great  day,  an  hour  of  right  and  might,  a  soul-stirring 
climax  to  a  most  stupendous  drama.  The  hero  rode  in  triumph ;  and 
the  villain,  after  ignominious  flight,  was  hiding  behind  the  skirts  of  a 
Dutchwoman,  over  the  border. 

No  finer  troops  marched  through  Brussels  on  this  gala  day  than 
the  Yanks,  who  were  given  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  celebration.  A 
battalion  of  infantry  from  the  Ninety-First  American  Division  and  a 
battery  from  the  Fifty-Third  Brigade,  fresh  from  the  beating  they 
had  given  the  Huns  at  Oudenark  a  few  days  before,  were  prominent 
in  the  lines,  and  shared  in  the  plaudits  a  liberated  people  showered 
upon  their  ovm  heroic  troops.  Troops  that  had  held  the  last  strip  of 
Belgian  soil  through  all  those  bitter  years  with  a  tenacity  the  Huns 
could  never  shake.  These  Belgian  soldiers,  had,  of  course,  the  place 
of  honor.  French  and  British  troops,  with  bands  playing  and  colors 
flying,  shared  in  the  glorious  triumph. 

The  King  and  the  royal  family  rode  at  the  head  of  two  Belgian 
divisions — a  column  of  veterans  stretching  out  fifteen  miles.  The  day 
was  like  midsummer — bright  and  fair.  All  the  roads  leading  to  the 
Rue  Royale  and  the  Boulevard  Anspach  were  packed  hours  before  the 
King's  arrival.  At  the  Port  de  Flandre  the  throngs  were  so  dense 
they  were  impassable.  The  whole  city  was  gorgeously  decorated.  Air- 
craft were  overhead,  dropping  confetti.  The  balconies  all  along  the 
route  were  draped  with  flags  and  colored  banners,  and  filled  with 
people  who,  when  the  King  and  his  family  rode  by,  showered  them 
with  flowers  and  little  flags.  At  one  place  a  company  of  five  hundred 
young  women  sang  the  Brabanconne,  the  Belgian  national  song,  and 
the  American,  French  and  British  national  anthems. 

The  royal  progress  ended  at  the  Palais  de  la  Nation,  where  the 
King  dismounted  and  entered,  to  address  the  parliament  in  its  first 
assembly  after  the  war — an  historic  session.  Then  he  reviewed  the 
troops  in  the  great  square,  and  thence  went  to  the  Hotel  de  Ville  to 
receive  the  address  of  the  Burgomaster  Max,  that  sturdy  figure,  which 
the  Germans  at  the  height  of  their  tyranny  had  not  been  able  to  budge. 

501 


UNITED   STATES  IN  THE   WAR 

AMERICA'S   TREMENDOUS   ACHIEVEMENT  BEHIND   THE 

LINES 

When  the  armistice  was  signed  on  November  11,  1918,  the  United 
States  land  forces  in  Europe  numbered  some  2,200,000  fighting  men. 
Of  these  about  750,000  were  in  the  Argonne  section,  on  the  French 
front.  The  others  were  in  various  units  on  the  French,  Belgian, 
Italian  and  other  fronts.  Additions  were  arriving  from  the  States 
at  the  rate  of  8,000  men  each  day. 

Behind  these  combat  forces  was  an  immense  support  in  men  and 
supplies  of  every  kind  from  home,  and  a  transport  system  surpassing 
that  of  any  other  belligerent,  perfectly  equipped ;  and  a  great  army  of 
relief  workers,  in  addition  to  one  of  the  finest  hospital  systems  the 
world  has  ever  seen. 

The  American  army  had  taken  to  France  and  had  in  operation  967 
standard  gauge  locomotives  and  13,174  standard  gauge  freight  cars  of 
American  manufacture.  In  addition  it  had  in  service  350  locomotives 
and  973  cars  of  foreign  origin.  To  meet  demands  which  the  existing 
French  railways  were  unable  to  meet,  843  miles  of  standard  gauge 
railway  were  constructed.  Five  hundred  miles  of  this  had  been  built 
since  June,  1918. 

The  department  of  light  railways  had  constructed  115  miles  of 
road,  and  140  miles  of  German  light  railways  were  repaired  and  put 
in  operation.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of  French  railway 
were  operated  by  the  Americans. 

But  railways  represent  only  a  fraction  of  the  transport  effort. 
Modern  warfare  is  motor  warfare  and  it  is  virtually  impossible  to 
present  in  figures  this  phase  of  the  work  of  the  American  army. 

In  building  new  roads  as  the  exigencies  of  battle  operations  re- 
quired, in  keeping  French  roads  repaired  under  the  ceaseless  tide 
of  war  transport  and  in  constructing  bridges  in  devastated  battle 
regions,  American  engineers  worked  day  and  night.  The  whole  region 
behind  the  American  lines  was  full  of  typical  American  road  ma- 
chinery, much  of  it  of  a  character  never  seen  before  in  Europe. 

To  do  this  work  the  American  expeditionary  forces  had  in  opera- 
tion November  11,  1918,  more  than  53,000  motor  vehicles  of  all  de- 
scriptions. 

The  American  forces  were  in  no  danger  of  being  placed  on  short 
rations,  had  the  war  continued. 

One  ration  represents  the  quantity  of  each  article  each  man  is 
entitled  to  daily.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  supply  of  some  of  the 
principal  ration  components  on  hand. 

The  Americans  had  390,000,000  rations  of  beans  alone,  183,000,000 
rations  of  flour  and  flour  substitutes,  267,000,000  rations  of  milk ;  161,- 
000,000  rations  of  butter  or  substitutes;  143,000,000  rations  of  sugar; 

502 


UNITED  STATES  IN   THE   WAR 

89,000,000  rations  of  meat;  57,000,000  rations  of  coffee  and  113,000,000 
rations  of  rice,  hominy  and  other  foods,  with  requisites  such  as  flavor- 
ings, fruits,  candy  and  potatoes  in  proportion,  while  for  smokers,  there 
were  761,000,000  rations  of  cigarettes  and  tobacco  in  other  forms. 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  in  exact  figures  what  the  American  expe- 
ditionary forces  have  done  in  the  construction  and  improvement  of 
dockage  and  warehouses  since  the  first  troops  landed.  This  work  has 
been  proportionate  to  the  whole  effort  in  other  directions.  Ten 
steamer  berths  have  been  built  at  Bordeaux,  having  a  total  length  of 
4,100  feet.  At  Montoir,  near  St.  Nazaire,  eight  berths  were  under 
construction  with  a  total  length  of  over  3,200  feet. 

Great  labor  had  been  expended  in  dredging  operations,  repairing 
French  docks  and  increasing  railway  terminal  facilities.  Warehouses 
having  an  aggregate  floor  area  of  almost  23,000,000  square  feet  had 
been  constructed.  This  development  of  French  ports  increased  facili- 
ties to  such  an  extent  that  even  if  the  Germans  had  captured  Calais 
and  other  channel  ports,  as  they  had  planned,  the  allies'  loss  would 
have  been  strategically  unimportant. 

So  largely  were  facilities  increased  that  the  English  armies  could 
have  had  their  bases  at  the  lower  French  ports,  if  necessary.  In  other 
words,  American  work  in  port  construction  lessened  to  a  material  de- 
gree the  value  to  the  Germans  of  their  proposed  capture  of  the  channel 
ports. 

These  figures  serve  in  a  measure  to  show  the  magnitude  of  Amer- 
ican accomplishments,  and  the  great  machine  is  in  operation  today 
as  the  American  Third  army  moves  forward  into  German  territory. 

During  the  second  stage  of  the  Argonne  operation  a  captured 
German  major,  while  in  casual  conversation  with  an  American  officer 
said:  ''We  know  defeat  is  inevitable.  We  know  your  First  and 
Second  armies  are  operating  and  that  your  Third  army  is  nearly  ready 
to  function.  We  know  there  are  more  and  more  armies  to  follow.  We 
can  measure  your  effort.    The  end  must  come  soon. ' ' 

AMERICAN   FORCES  AND   CASUALTIES 

At  the  opening  of  November,  1918,  the  United  States  armies  on 
all  fronts  numbered  about  2,200,000  men,  and  was  being  increased  at 
an  average  rate  of  250,000  a  month.  In  transit  from  home  ports  to 
ports  in  Europe  and  Siberia,  only  one  transport  ship  was  lost,  and  of 
its  complement  of  troops  126  men  were  drowned.  The  sinking  was 
caused  by  collision  with  another  ship  in  the  same  convoy,  not  by  an 
enemy  submarine.  The  United  States  has  not  lost  one  man  in  trans- 
port, by  an  act  of  a  hostile  ship  or  submarine. 

Army  and  marine  casualties  reported  by  the  commanders  of 
overseas  forces  to  the  government  at  Washington  up  to  November 

503 


UNITED  STATES  IN   THE   WAR 

27<-h,  1918  (after  the  seventeenth  month  of  our  participation  in  the 
war) ,  were  as  follows : 

Killed  in  action,  28,363 ;  died  of  wounds,  12,101 ;  died  of  disease, 
16,034;  died  of  other  causes,  1,980;  wounded,  189,995  (of  this  number 
92,036  only  slightly  wounded)  ;  missing  in  action  and  prisoners, 
14,250;  making  a  total  numbering  262,723. 

"War  Department  reports  show  that  over-seas  Air  Service 
Casualties  to  October  24th,  1918,  were  128  battle  fatalities  and  224 
killed  in  accidents. 

TOTAL    OF    CIVIL   WAE    CASUALTIES    COMPARED    ARE   AS    FOLLOWS 

Federal  troops  killed  in  action,  67,058;  died  of  wounds,  43,012; 
died  of  disease,  224,586 ;  making  total  Federal  fatalities  334,656. 

Confederates  killed  and  died  of  wounds,  95,000 ;  died  of  disease, 
164,000;  making  the  total  Confederate  fatalities  259,000. 

According  to  the  War  Department  records,  total  dead  of  the 
Civil  War  is  618,524. 

BRITISH,  FRENCH  AND  ITALIAN  LOSSES 

British  losses  are  estimated  at  1,000,000  killed  and  2,049,991 
wounded,  missing  and  prisoners. 

The  French  losses  are  over  1,500,000  in  killed  and  over  3,000,000 
in  wounded  and  prisoners. 

The  Italian  losses,  including  casualties  and  prisoners,  are  esti- 
mated at  a  total  of  2,000,000,  including  500,000  dead. 

7,589  CASUALTIES  IN  ROYAL  AIR  FORCES 

Casualties  in  the  royal  air  forces  from  April,  1918,  when  the  air 
forces  were  amalgamated,  to  Nov.  11,  were :  Killed,  2,680 ;  wounded, 
missing  and  prisoners,  4,909,  according  to  an  official  statement  by  the 
air  ministry. 

CANADA'S  CASUALTIES 

Canada's  casualty  list  up  to  November  1,  1918  (eleven  days  before 
the  armistice),  totaled  211,358,  classified  as  follows:  Killed  in  action, 
34,877 ;  died  of  wounds  or  disease,  15,457 ;  wounded,  152,779 ;  pre- 
sumed dead,  missing  in  action  and  known  prisoners  of  war,  8,245. 
Canada's  total  land  forces  numbered  nearly  a  half  million  men;  that 
is,  over  eighty  per  cent  of  the  men  of  the  Dominion  of  military  age, 
who  were  physically  fit.  They  constituted  over  forty  per  cent  of  the 
male  population.  It  is  a  strange  coincidence  of  figures  that  the  losses 
above  enumerated  constitute  just  about  the  same  per  cent  (forty)  of 
the  armed  forces,  that  those  forces  bore  to  the  young  nation's  total 
manhood.  Canada's  efforts  and  sacrifices  in  the  war  have  not  been 
fully  understood.  When  they  are,  they  will  evoke  the  admiration  of 
the  world,  and  of  history. 

GERMAN   LOSSES 

Exact  figures  covering  German  losses  since  August  1st,  1914, 
when  the  war  began  with  the  German  invasion  of  Belgium,  cannot 

=>04 


UNITED   STATES   IN   THE   WAR 

be  had.  The  records  are  kept  at  Berlin  and  their  figures  have  been 
withheld  from  even  the  people  of  Germany. 

The  only  estimates  available  are  those  made  by  commanders  op- 
posimg  the  German  forces,  and  these  were  confessedly  cautious,  the 
allied  policy  being  to  minimize  estimates  of  enemy  reverses,  so  that 
no  false  encouragement  might  reach  the  public  in  any  of  the  alljed 
countries.  On  this  basis,  the  estimates  approximate  a  German  loss 
of  over  1,580,000  killed  and  4,490,000  disabled,  prisoners,  and 
missing,  a  total  of  6,070,000. 

The  Austrian  losses  in  killed  are  estimated  at  800,000  and 
3,200,000  prisoners,  wounded  and  missing. 

TOTAL  LOSSES 

The  world's  actual  loss  of  men  in  the  war  is  estimated  at  not 
less  than  10,000,000,  counting  those  killed  in  action,  died  of  wounds, 
or  dead  from  other  causes  in  prison  camps  or  in  the  field. 

These  estimates  do  not  include  800,000  Armenian  Christians 
massacred  by  the  Turks  at  the  order  of  the  German  general  staff,  nor 
the  Belgian  and  French  civilians  starved  to  death,  infected  with 
typhus  and  tuberculosis  by  hypodermic  injection,  or  murdered  out- 
right by  German  soldiery  under  orders,  nor  the  German  wholesale 
slaughter  of  Serbians,  of  Greeks  in  Asia  Minor,  nor  similar  victims  in 
Poland,  Lithuania  and  southwest  Russia,  outnumbering  no  doubt  the 
total  loss  of  fighting  men  in  all  the  armies.  It  is  not  likely  these 
murders  of  noncombatants  can  ever  be  counted  up. 

GERMANY  ^S  NAVAL  SURRENDER 

Surrender  of  the  German  navy  and  delivery  of  its  ships  to  the 
Grand  Fleet  (consisting  of  the  British  and  United  States  navies), 
began  November  21,  1918,  just  ten  days  after  the  armistice  was  signed. 
Ninety  German  ships  of  all  grades  constituted  the  first  delivery. 
Admiral  Sims,  of  the  American  Navy,  King  George  and  the  Prince  of 
"Wales,  were  aboard  the  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  flagship  of  Admiral 
Beatty,  commanding  the  Grand  Fleet.  Five  hundred  British  and 
American  war  vessels  were  in  the  receiving  lines,  and  convoyed  the 
surrendered  German  ships  to  the  Firth  of  Forth,  just  below  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  where  they  will  lie  until  their  disposal  is  determined. 
Among  the  German  vessels  surrendered  that  day  were  sixty  sub- 
marines. 

Other  deliveries  of  German  war  vessels  were  continued.  On  No- 
vember 29th  it  was  discovered  that  of  the  360  submarines  of  all  types 
built  by  the  Germans,  the  Grand  Fleet  had  destroyed  or  captured  200. 
Of  the  remaining  160  nearly  all  had  been  surrendered  by  that  date. 
This  being  the  exact  number  called  to  surrender  by  the  terms  of  the 
armistice,  it  would  appear  the  allied  conference  was  fully  informed  to 

505 


UNITED    STATES   IN    THE    WAR 

that  effect,  and  thereby  was  enabled  to  strip  Germany  of  the  last  of 
these  vessels,  whose  record  of  murder  and  piracy  at  sea  is  without 
any  precedent  whatever  in  history. 

FORMER   KAISERIN   WEEPS 

The  meeting  of  former  Emperor  William  and  the  former  empress 
at  Amerongen  is  described  by  a  Dutch  correspondent  as  follows : 

"The  gates  were  thrown  open,  the  drawbridge  was  lowered  with 
a  noise  of  chains  and  iron  bars  that  sounded  very  medieval,  and 
in  the  courtyard  before  the  castle  an  elderly  man  in  a  gray  military 
cloak  was  seen  at  a  distance,  walking  slowly  and  leaning  on  his 
stick.  It  was  the  ex-kaiser.  The  ex-kaiserin's  car  was  driven  into 
the  courtyard,  the  ex-kaiser  threw  down  his  stick  and,  before  the 
valet  was  able,  opened  the  door  and  handed  out  his  wife. 

"They  shook  hands  and  then  threw  themselves  into  each  other's 
arms,  the  ex-kaiserin  falling  upon  her  husband's  shoulder  and  crying 
like  a  child." 

FORMER  kaiser's  ACT  OP  RENUNCIATION 

The  text  of  the  former  German  emperor's  act  of  renunciation, 
which  was  issued  by  the  New  German  government,  ' '  in  order  to  reply 
to  certain  misunderstandings  which  have  arisen  with  regard  to  the 
abdication,"  follows: 

By  the  present  document  I  renounce  forever  my  rights  to  the 
crmmi  of  Prussia  and  the  rights  to  the  German  imperial  crown.  I 
release,  at  the  same  time,  all  the  officials  of  the  German  empire  and 
Prussia,  mid  also  all  officers,  non-commissioned  officers  OAid  soldiers  of 
the  Prussian  no/uy  and  army  and  of  contingents  from  confederate 
states  from  the  oath  of  fidelity  they  have  taken  to  me. 

As  their  emperor,  king  and  supreme  chief,  I  expect  from  them, 
until  a  new  organization  of  the  German  empire  exists,  that  they  will 
aid  those  who  effectively  hold  the  power  in  Germany  to  protect  the 
German  people  against  the  menacing  dangers  of  anarchy,  famine  and 
foreign  domination. 

Made  and  executed  and  signed  iy  our  own  hand  with  the  imperial 
seal  at  Amerongen  Nov.  28. 

WILLIAM. 

PERSHING  PAYS  TRIBUTE  TO  HIS  MEN 

In  closing  his  preliminary  report  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  made 
public  on  December  4,  1918,  General  Pershing  expresses  his  feeling 
for  the  men  who  served  with  him,  as  follows: 

"I  pay  the  supreme  tribute  to  our  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  line. 
When  I  think  of  their  heroism,  their  patience  under  hardships,  their 
unflinching  spirit  of  offensive  action,  I  am  filled  with  emotion  which  I 
am  unable  to  express.  Their  deeds  are  immortal,  and  they  have 
earned  the  eternal  gratitude  of  our  country. ' ' 

506 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
CHRONOLOGY  OF  WORLD  WAR 

Comprehensive  Chronology  of  the  Four  Years  of  War — Dates  of 
Important  Battles  and  Naval  Engagements — Heady  Reference  of 
Historical  Events  from  June,  1914,  to  End  of  War  in  1918. 

1914 

June  28 — Archduke  Ferdinand  and  wife  assassinated  in  Sarajevo,  Bosnia. 

July  28 — Austria-Hungary  declares  war  on  Serbia. 

August  1 — Germany  declares  war  on  Eussia  and  general  mobilization  ia 
under  way  in  France  and  Austria-Hungary.  Aug.  2 — German  troops  enter 
France  at  Cirey;  Eussian  troops  enter  Germany  at  Schwidden;  German  army 
enters  Luxemburg  over  protest,  and  Germany  asks  Belgium  for  free  passage  of 
her  troops.  Aug.  3 — British  fleet  mobilizes;  Belgium  appeals  to  Great  Britain 
for  diplomatic  aid  and  German  ambassador  quits  Paris. 

Aug.  4 — France  declares  war  on  Germany;  Germany  declares  war  on  Bel- 
gium; Great  Britain  sends  Belgium  neutrality  ultimatum  to  Germany;  British 
army  mobilized  and  state  of  war  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany  is  declared. 
President  Wilson  issues  neutrality  proclamation.  Aug.  5 — Germans  begin 
fighting  on  Belgium  frontier;  Germany  asks  for  Italy's  help.  Aug.  6 — Austria 
declares  war  on  Eussia.  Aug.  7 — Germans  defeated  by  French  at  Altkirch. 
Aug.  9 — Germans  capture  Liege.  Portugal  announces  it  will  support  Great 
Britain;  British  land  troops  in  France.  Aug.  10 — France  declares  war  on 
Austria-Hungary. 

Aug.  12 — Great  Britain  declares  war  on  Austria-Hungary;  Montenegro 
declares  war  on  Germany.  Aug.  15 — Japan  sends  ultimatum  to  Germany  to 
withdraw  from  Japanese  and  Chinese  waters  and  evacuate  Kiao-chow;  Eussia 
offers  autonomy  to  Poland.  Aug.  20 — German  army  enters  Brussels.  Aug.  23 — 
Japan  declares  war  on  Germany;  Eussia  victorious  in  battles  in  East  Prussia. 
Aug.  24 — Japanese  warships  bombard  Tsingtao.  Aug.  25 — Japan  and  Austria 
break  off  diplomatic  relations.  Aug.  28 — English  win  naval  battle  over  German 
fleet  near  Helgoland.  Aug.  29 — Germans  defeat  Eussians  at  Allenstein;  occupy 
Amiens;  advance  to  La  Fere,  sixty-five  miles  from  Paris. 

September  1 — Germans  cross  Marne;  bombs  dropped  on  Paris;  Turkish 
army  mobilized;  Zeppelins  drop  bombs  on  Antwerp.  Sept.  2 — Government  of 
France  transferred  to  Bordeaux;  Eussians  capture  Lemberg.  Sept.  4 — Germans 
cross  the  Marne.  Sept.  5 — England,  France,  and  Eussia  sign  pact  to  make  no 
separate  peace.  Sept.  6 — French  win  battle  of  Marne;  British  cruiser  Path 
finder  sunk  in  North  sea  by  a  German  submarine.  Sept.  7 — Germans  retreat 
from  the  Marne.  Sept.  14 — Battle  of  Aisne  starts;  German  retreat  halted. 
Sept.  15 — First  battle  of  Soissons  fought.  Sept.  20 — Eussians  capture  Jaroslau 
and  begin  siege  of  Przemysl. 

October  9-10 — Germans  capture  Antwerp.  Qct.  12 — Germans  take  Ghent. 
Oct.  20 — Fighting  along  Yser  river  begins.  Oct.  29 — Turkey  begins  war  on 
Bussia. 

November  7 — Tsingtro  falls  before  Japanese  troops.  Nov.  9 — German 
cruiser  Emden  destroyed. 

December  11 — German  advance  on  "Warsaw  checked.  Dec.  14 — Belgrade 
recaptured  by  Serbians.  Dec.  16 — German  cruisers  bombard  Scarborough, 
Hartlepool,  and  Whitby,  on  English  coast,  killing  fifty  or  more  persons;  Aus- 
trians  said  to  have  lost  upwards  of  100,000  men  in  Serbian  defeat.  Dec.  25 
5— Italy  occupies  Avlona,  Albania. 

507 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  TEE  WORLD  WAR 

1915 

JazLuaxy  1 — British  battleship  Formidable  sunk.  Jan.  8 — Eoumania  mobi- 
lizes 750,000  men;  violent  fighting  in  the  Argonne.  Jan.  11 — Germans  cross 
the  Eawka,  thirty  miles  from  Warsaw.  Jan.  24 — British  win  naval  battle  in 
North  sea.  Jan.  29 — Russian  army  invades  Hungary;  German  efforts  to  cross 
Aisne  repulsed. 

February  1 — British  repel  strong  German  attack  near  La  Bassee.  Feb.  2 
— Turks  are  defeated  in  attack  on  Suez  canal.  Feb.  4 —  Russians  capture 
Tarnow  in  Galicia.  Feb.  8 — Turks  along  Suez  canal  in  full  retreat;  Turkish 
land  defenses  at  the  Dardanelles  shelled  by  British  torpedo  boats.  Feb.  11 — 
Germans  evacuate  Lodz.  Feb.  12 — Germans  drive  Russians  from  positions  in 
East  Prussia,  taking  26,000  prisoners.  Feb.  14 — Russians  report  capture  of 
fortifications  at  Smolnik.  Feb.  16 — Germans  capture  Plock  and  Bielsk  in 
Poland;  French  capture  two  miles  of  German  trenches  in  Champagne  district. 

February  17 — Germans  report  they  have  taken  50,000  Russian  prisoners  in 
Mazurian  lake  district.  Feb.  18 — German  blockade  of  English  and  French 
coasts  put  into  effect.  Feb.  19-20 — British  and  French  fleets  bombard  Dar- 
danelles forts.  Feb.  21 — American  steamer  Evelyn  sunk  by  mine  in  North  sea. 
Feb.  22 — German  war  office  announces  capture  of  100,000  Russian  prisoners 
in  engagements  in  Mazurian  lake  region;  American  steamer  Carib  sunk 
by  mine  in  North  sea.  Feb.  28 — Dardanelles  entrance  forts  capitulate  to 
English  and  French. 

March  4 — Landing  of  allied  troops  on  both  sides  of  Dardanelles  straits 
reported;  German  U-4  sunk  by  French  destroyers.  March  10 — Battle  of  Neuve 
Chapelle  begins.  March  14 — German  cruiser  Dresden  sunk  in  Pacific  by  English. 
March  18 — British  battleships  Irresistible  and  Ocean  and  French  battleship 
Bouvet  sunk  in  Dardanelles  strait.  March  22 — Fort  of  Przemysl  surrenders 
to  Russians.  March  23 — Allies  land  troops  on  Gallipoli  peninsula.  March  25— 
Russians  victorious  over  Austrians  in  Carpathians. 

April  8 — German  auxiliary  cruiser,  Prinz  Eitel  Friedrich,  interned  at 
Newport  News,  Va.  April  16 — Italy  has  1,200,000  men  mobilized  under  arms; 
Austrians  report  complete  defeat  of  Russians  in  Carpathian  campaign.  April 
23 — Germans  force  way  across  Ypres  canal  and  take  1,600  prisoners.  April  25 
— Allies  stop  German  drive  on  Ypres  line  in  Belgium.  April  29 — British  report 
regaining  of  two-thirds  of  lost  ground  in  Ypres  battle. 

May  7 — Liner  Lusitania  torpedoed  and  sunk  by  German  submarine  off 
the  coast  of  Ireland  with  the  loss  of  more  than  1,000  lives,  102  Americans. 
May  9 — French  advance  two  and  one-half  miles  against  German  forces  north 
of  Arras,  taking  2,000  prisoners.     May  23 — Italy  declares  war  on  Austria. 

June  3 — Germans  recapture  Przemysl  with  Austrian  help.  June  18 — 
British  suffer  defeat  north  of  La  Bassee  canal.  June  28 — Italians  enter  Aus- 
trian territory  south  of  Riva  on  western  shore  of  Lake  Garda. 

July  3 — Tolmino  falls  into  Italian  hands.  July  9 — British  make  gains 
north  of  Ypres  and  French  retake  trenches  in  the  Vosges.  July  13 — Germans 
defeated  in  the  Argonne.  July  29 — Warsaw  evacuated;  Lublin  captured  by 
Austrians. 

August  4 — Germans  occupy  Warsaw.  Aug.  14 — Austrians  and  Germans 
concentrate  400,000  soldiers  on  Serbian  frontier.  Aug.  21 — Italy  declares 
war  on  Turkey. 

September  1 — Ambassador  Eernstorff  announces  Germans  will  sink  no  more 
liners  without  warning.  Sept.  4 — German  submarine  torpedoes  liner  Hes- 
perian. Sept.  9 — Germans  make  air  raid  on  London,  killing  twenty  persons 
and  wounding  100  others;   United   States  asks  Austria  to  recall  Ambassador 

508 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

Dumba.  Sept.  20 — Germans  begin  drive  on  Serbia  to  open  route  to  Turkey. 
Sept.  22 — Eussian  army  retreating  from  Vilna,  escapes  German  encircling  move- 
ment. Sept.  25-30 — Battle  of  Champagne,  resulting  in  great  advance  for  allied 
armies  and  causing  Kaiser  Wilheim  to  rush  to  the  west  front;  German  counter 

attacks  repulsed. 

October  5 — Russia  and  Bulgaria  sever  diplomatic  relations;  Russian, 
French,  British,  Italian,  and  Serbian  diplomatic  representatives  ask  for  pass- 
ports in  Sofia.  Oct.  10 — Gen.  Mackensen's  forces  take  Belgrade.  Oct.  12 — 
Edith  Cavell  executed  by  Germans.  Oct.  13 — Bulgaria  declares  war  on  Serbia. 
Oct.  15 — Great  Britain  declares  war  on  Bulgaria.  Oct.  16 — France  declares 
war  on  Bulgaria.  Oct.  19 — Eussia  and  Italy  declare  war  on  Bulgaria.  Oct.  27 
— Germans  join  Bulgarians  in  northeastern  Serbia  and  open  way  to  Con- 
stantinople.    Oct.  30 — Germans  defeated  at  Mitau. 

November  9 — Italian  liner  Ancona  torpedoed. 

December  1 — British  retreat  from  near  Bagdad.  Dec.  4 — Ford  "peace 
party"  sails  for  Europe.  Dec.  8-9 — Allies  defeated  in  Macedonia.  Dec.  15 — 
Sir  John  Douglas  Haig  succeeds  Sir  John  French  as  chief  of  English  itrmies 
on  west  front. 

1916 

January  8 — ^British  troops  at  Kut-el-Amara  surrounded.  Jan.  9 — British 
evacuate  Gallipoli  peninsula.  Jan.  13 — Austrians  capture  Cetinje,  capital  of 
Montenegro.    Jan.  23 — Scutari,  capital  of  Albania,  captured  by  Austrians. 

February  22 — Crown  prince's  army  begins  attack  on  Verdun. 

March  8 — Germany  declares  war  on  Portugal.  March  15 — Austria-Hungary 
declares  war   on  Portugal.     March  2A — Steamer   Sussex   torpedoed   and   sunk. 

April  18 — President  Wilson  sends  note  to  Germany.  April  19 — President 
Wilson  speaks  to  congress,  explaining  diplomatic  situation.  April  24 — Insur- 
rection in  Dublin.  April  29— British  troops  at  Kut-el-Amara  surrender  to 
Turks.    April  30 — Irish  revolution  suppressed. 

May  3 — Irish  leaders  of  insurrection  executed.  May  4 — Germany  makes 
promise  to  change  methods  of  submarine  warfare.  May  13 — Austrians  begin 
great  o^Iensive  against  Italians  in  Trentino.  May  31 — Great  naval  battle  off 
Danish  coast. 

June  5 — Lord  Kitchener  lost  with  cruiser  Hampshire.  June  11 — Eussians 
capture  Dubno.  Juno  29 — Sir  Roger  Casement  sentenced  to  be  hanged  for 
treason 

July  1 — British  and  French  begin  great  offensive  on  the  Somme.  July 
6 — David  Lloyd  George  appointed  secretary  of  war.  July  9 — German 
merchant  submarine  Deutschland  arrives  at  Baltimore.  July  23 — Gen.  Kuro- 
patkin's  army  wins  battle  near  Eiga.  July  27 — English  take  Delville  wood; 
Serbian  forces  begin  attack  on  Bulgars  in  Macedonia. 

August  2 — French  take  Fleury.  Aug.  3 — Sir' Roger  Casement  executed  for 
treason.  Aug.  4 — French  recapture  Thiaumont  for  fourth  time;  British  repulse 
Turkish  attack  on  Suez  canal.  Aug.  7 — Italians  on  Isonzo  front  capture  Monte 
Sabotino  and  Monte  San  Michele.  Aug.  8 — Turks  force  Russian  evacuation 
of  Bitlis  and  Mush.  Aug.  9 — Italians  cross  Isonzo  river  and  occupy  Austrian 
city  of  Goeritz.  Aug.  10 — Austrians  evacuate  Stanislau;  allies  take  Doiran, 
near  Saloniki,  from  Bulgarians. 

August  19 — German  submarines  sink  British  light  cruisers  Nottingham  and 
Falm.outh.  Aug.  24 — French  occupy  Maurepas,  north  of  the  Somme;  Eussians 
recapture  Mush  in  Armenia.  Aug.  27 — Italy  declares  war  on  Germany; 
Eoumania  enters  war  on  side  of  allies.     Aug.  29 — Field  Marshal  von  Hinden- 

509 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

burg  made  chief  of  staff  of  German  armies,  succeeding  Gen.  von  FalkenhajTi. 
August  30 — Russian  armies  seize  all  five  passes  in  Carpathians  into  Hungary. 

September  3 — Allies  renew  offensive  north  of  Somme;  Bulgarian  and  Ger- 
man troops  invade  Dobrudja,  in  Eoumania.  Sept.  7 — Germans  and  Bulgarians 
capture  Roumanian  fortress  of  Tutrakan;  Roumanians  take  Orsova,  Bulgarian 
city.  Sept.  19 — German-Bulgarian  army  captures  Roumanian  fortress  of 
Silistria.  Sept.  14 — British  for  first  time  use  "tanks."  Sept.  15 — Italians 
begin  new  offensive  on  Carso. 

October  2 — Roumanian  army  of  invasion  in  Bulgaria  defeated  by  Germans 
and  Bulgarians  under  Von  Mackensen.  Oct.  4 — German  submarines  sink  French 
cruiser  Gallia  and  Cunard  liner  Franconia.  Oct.  8 — German  submarines  sink 
six  merchant  steamships  off  Nantucket,  Mass.  Oct.  11 — Greek  seacoast  forts 
dismantled  and  turned  over  to  allies  on  demand  of  England  and  France. 
Oct.  23 — German-Bulgar  armies  capture  Constanza,  Roumania  Oct.  24 — French 
win  back  Douaumont,  Thiaumont  field  work,  Haudromont  quarries,  and 
Caillette  wood  near  Verdun,  in  smash  of  two  miles. 

November  1 — Italians,  in  new  offensive  on  the  Carso  plateau,  capture 
5,000  Austrians.  Nov.  2 — Germans  evacuate  Fort  Vaux  at  Verdun.  Nov.  5 — 
Germans  and  Austrians  proclaim  new  kingdom  of  Poland,  of  territory  captured 
from  Russia.  Nov.  6 — Submarine  sinks  British  passenger  steamer  Arabia. 
Nov.  7 — Cardinal  Mercier  protests  against  German  deportation  of  Belgians; 
submarine  sinks  American  steamer  Columbian.  Nov.  8 — Russian  army  invades 
Transylvania,  Hungary.  Nov.  9 — Austro-German  armies  defeat  Russians  in 
Volhyina  and  take  4,000  prisoners. 

November  13 — British  launch  new  offensive  in  Somme  region  on  both 
sides  of  Ancre.  Nov.  14 — British  capture  fortified  village  of  Beacourt,  near 
the  Ancre.  Nov.  19 — Serbian,  French,  and  Russian  troops  recapture  Monastir; 
Germans  cross  Transylvania  Alps  and  enter  western  Roumania.  Nov.  21 — 
British  hospital  ship  Britannic  sunk  by  mine  in  Aegean  sea.  Nov.  23 — Rou- 
manian army  retreats  ninety  miles  from  Bucharest.  Nov.  24 — German- 
Bulgarian  armies  take  Orsova  and  Turnu-Severin  from  Roumanians.  Nov.  25 
— Greek  provisional  government  declares  war  on  Germany  and  Bulgaria. 
Nov.  28 — Roumanian  government  abandons  Bucharest  and  moveis  capital  to 
Jassy. 

December  5 — Premier  Herbert  Asquith  of  England  resigns.  Dec.  7 — 
David  Lloyd  George  accepts  British  premiership.  Dec.  8 — Gen.  von  Macken- 
sen captures  big  Roumanian  army  in  Prohova  valley.  Dec.  12 — Chancellor  von 
Bethman-Hollweg  announces  in  reiehstag  that  Germany  will  propose  peace; 
new  cabinet  in  France  under  Aristide  Briand  as  premier,  and  Gen.  Robert 
Georges  Nivelle  given  chief  of  command  of  French  army.  Dec.  15 — French  at 
Verdun  win  two  miles  of  front  and  capture  11,000. 

December  19^Llloyd  George  declines  German  peace  proposals.  Dec.  23 — 
Baron  Burian  succeeded  as  minister  of  foreign  affairs  in  Austria  by  Count 
Czernin.  Dec.  26 — Germany  proposes  to  President  Wilson  "an  immediate 
meeting  of  delegates  of  the  belligerents."  Dec  27 — Russians  defeated  in 
five-day  battle  in  eastern  Wallachia,  Roumania. 

1917 

January  1 — Submarine  sinks  British  transport  Ivernia.  Jan.  9 — Russian 
premier,  Trepoff,  resigns.  Golitzin  succeeds  him.  Jaai.  31 — Germany  announ- 
ces unrestricted  submarine  warfare. 

February  3 — President  Wilson  reviews  submarine  controversy  before  con- 
gress; United  States  severs  diplomatic  relations  with  Germany;  American 
steamer  Housatonic  sunk  without  warning.    Peb.  7 — Senate  indorses  President  '• 

510 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

act  of  breaking  off  diplomatic  relations.  Feb.  12 — United  States  refuses  Ger- 
man request  to  discuss  matters  of  difference  unless  Germany  withdraws  unre- 
•tricted  submarine  warfare  order. 

February  14 — Von  Bernstorff  sails  for  Germany.  Feb.  25 — British  under 
Gen.  Maude  capture  Kut-el-Amara;  submarine  sinks  liner  Laconia  without 
warning;  many  lost  including  two  Americans.  Feb.  26 — President  Wilson 
asks  congress  for  authority  to  arm  American  merchantships.  Feb.  28 — Secre- 
tary Lansing  makes  public  Zimmerman  note  to  Mexico,  proposing  Mexican- 
Japanese-German  alliance. 

Marcb  9 — President  Wilson  calls  extra  session  of  congress  for  April  16. 
Maxch  11 — British  under  Gen.  Maude  capture  Bagdad;  revolution  starts  in 
Petrograd.  March  15 — Czar  Nicholas  of  Eussia  abdicates.  March  17 — ^French 
and  British  capture  Bapaume.  March  18 — New  French  ministry  formed  by 
Alexander  Eibot. 

March  21 — Hussian  forces  cross  Persian  border  into  Turkish  territory; 
American  oil  steamer  Healdton  torpedoed  without  warning.  March  22 — 
United  States  recognizes  new  government  of  Eussia.  March  27 — Gen.  Murray's 
British  expedition  into  the  Holy  Land  defeats  Turkish  army  near  Gaza. 

April  2 — President  Wilson  asks  congress  to  declare  that  acts  of  Germany 
constitute  a  state  of  war;  submarine  sinks  American  steamer  Aztec  without 
warning.  April  4: — United  States  senate  passes  resolution  declaring  a  state  of 
war  exists  with  Germany.  April  6 — House  passes  war  resolution  and  President 
Wilson  signs  joint  resolution  of  congress,  April  8 — Austria  declares  severance 
of  diplomatic  relations  with  United  States. 

April  9 — British  defeat  Germans  at  Vimy  Eidge  and  take  6,000  prisoners; 
United  States  seizes  fourteen  Austrian  interned  ships.  April  20 — Turkey 
severs  diplomatic  relations  with  the  U.  S.  April  28 — Congress  passes  selective 
service  act  for  raising  of  army  of  500,000;  Guatemala  severs  diplomatic  rela- 
tions with  Germany. 

May  7 — War  department  orders  raising  of  nine  volunteer  regiments  of 
engineers  to  go  to  France.  May  14 — Espionage  act  becomes  law  by  passing 
senate.  May  18 — President  Wilson  signs  selective  service  act.  Also  directs 
expeditionary  force  of  regulars  under  Gen.  Pershing  to  go  to  France.  May  19 
— Congress  passes  war  appropriation  bill  of  $3,000,000,000. 

June  5 — Nearly  10,000,000  men  in  U.  S.  register  for  military  service. 
June  12 — King  Constantine  of  Greece  abdicates.  June  13 — Gen.  Pershing  and 
staff  arrive  in  Paris.  June  15 — First  Liberty  loan  closes  with  large  over- 
subscription. June  26 — First  contingent  American  troops  under  Gen.  Sibert 
arrives  in  France.  June  29 — Greece  severs  diplomatic  relations  with  Teutonic 
allies. 

July  9 — President  Wilson  drafts  state  militia  into  federal  service.  Also 
places  food  and  fuel  under  federal  control.  July  13 — War  department  order 
drafts  678,000  men  into  military  service.  July  14 — Aircraft  appropriation  bill 
of  $640,000,000  passes  house;  Chancellor  von  B,ethmann-Hollweg 's  resignation 
forced  by  German  political  crisis. 

July  18 — United  States  government  orders  censorship  of  telegrams  and 
cablegrams  crossing  frontiers.  July  19 — New  German  Chancellor  Michaelis 
declares  Germany  will  not  war  for  conquest;  radicals  and  Catholic  party  ask 
peace  without  forced  acquisitions  of  territory.  July  22 — Siam  declares  war  on 
Germany.  July  23 — Premier  Kerensky  given  unlimited  powers  in  Eussia. 
July  28 — United  States  war  industries  board  created  to  supervise  expenditures. 

August  25^ — Italian  Second  army  breaks  through  Austrian  line  on  Isonzo 
front.    Aug.  28 — President  Wilson  rejects  Pope  Benedict's  peace  plea. 

5U 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

SeptemlDer  10 — Gen.  Korniloff  demands  control  of  Russian  government. 
Sept.  11 — Eussian  deputies  vote  to  support  Kerensky.  Korniloff's  generals 
ordered  arrested.  Sept.  16 — Russia  proclaims  new  republic  by  order  of  Pre- 
mier Kerensky.  Sept.  20 — <j-en.  Haig  jwlvmnces  mUe  through  German  lines  at 
Ypres.    Sept.  21 — Gen.  Tasker  H.  Bliss  named  chief  of  staff,  TJ.  S.  army. 

October  16 — Germans  occupy  islands  of  Runo  and  Adro  in  the  Gulf  of 
Riga.  Oct.  25 — French  under  Gen.  Petain  advance  and  take  12,000  prisoners 
on  Aisne  front.  Oct.  27 — Formal  announcement  made  that  American  troops 
in  France  had  fired  their  first  shots  in  the  war.  Oct.  29 — Italian  Isonzo  front 
collapses  and  Austro-German  army  reaches  outposts  of  Udine. 

November  1 — Secretary  Lansing  makes  public  the  Luxburg  "spurlos 
versenkf  note.  Nov.  7 — Austro-German  troops  capture?  Nov,  9 — Permanent 
interallied  military  commission  created.  Nov.  24 — Navy  department  announces 
capture  of  first  German  submarine  by  American  destroyer.  Nov.  28 — Bolsheviki 
get  absolute  control  of  Eussian  assembly  in  Russian  elections. 

December  6 — Submarine  sinks  the  Jacob  Jones,  first  regular  warship  of 
American  navy  destroyed.  Dec.  7 — Congress  declares  war  on  Austria-Hungary. 
Dec.  8 — Jerusalem  surrenders  to  Gen.  Allenby's  forces. 

1918 

January  5 — President  Wilson  delivers  speech  to  congress  giving  "fourteen 
points"  necessary  to  peace.  Jan.  20 — British  monitors  win  seafight  with 
cruisers  Goeben  and  Breslau,  sinking  latter.  Jan.  28 — Russia  and  Roumania 
sever  diplomatic  relations. 

February  2 — United  States  troops  take  over  their  first  sector,  near  Toul. 
Feb.  6 — United  States  troopship  Tuscania  sunk  by  submarine,  126  lost.  Feb. 
11 —  President  Wilson,  in  address  to  congress,  gives  four  additional  peace 
principles,  including  self-determination  of  nations;  Bolsheviki  declare  war  with 
Germany  over,  but  refuse  to  sign  peace  treaty.  Feb.  13 — Bolo  Pasha  sentenced 
to  death  in  France  for  treason.  Feb.  25 — Germans  take  Reval,  Russian  naval 
base,  and  Pskov;  Chancellor  von  Hertling  agrees  "in  principle"  with  President 
Wilson's  peace  principles,  in  address  to  reichstag. 

Marchi  1 — Americans  repulse  German  attack  on  Toul  sector.  March  2 — 
Treaty  of  peace  with  Germany  signed  by  Bolsheviki  at  Brest-Litovsk.  March 
4 — Germany  and  Roumania  sign  armistice  on  German  terms.  March  13 — Ger- 
man troops  occupy  Odessa.  March  14 — All  Russian  congress  of  Soviets  ratifies 
peace  treaty.  March  21 — German  spring  offensive  starts  on  fifty  mile  front. 
March  22 — Germans  take  16,000  British  prisoners  and  200  guns. 

March  23 — German  drive  gains  nine  miles.  "Mystery  gun"  shells  Paris. 
March  24 — Germans  reach  the  Somme,  gaining  fifteen  miles.  American  engi- 
neers rushed  to  aid  British.  March  25 — Germans  take  Bapaume.  March  27 — 
Germans  take  Albert.  March  28 — British  counter  attack  and  gain;  French  take 
three  towns;  Germans  advance  toward  Amiens.  March  29 — "Mystery  gun" 
kills  seventy-five  churchgoers  in  Paris  on  Good  Friday. 

April  4 — Germans  start  second  phase  of  their  spring  drive  on  the  Somme. 
April  10 — Germans  take  10,000  British  prisoners  in  Flanders.  April  16 — Ger- 
mans capture  Messines  ridge,  near  Ypres;  Bolo  Pasha  executed.  April  23 — 
British  and  French  navies  "bottle  up"  Zeebrugge.  April  26 — Germans  capture 
Monnt  Kemmcl,  taking  6,500  prisoners. 

May  5 — Austria  starts  drive  on  Italy.  May  10 — British  navy  bottles  up 
Ostend.  May  24 — British  ship  Moldavia,  carrying  American  troops,  torpedoed; 
56  lost.  May  27 — Germans  begin  third  phase  of  drive  on  west  front;  gain  five 
miles.  May  28 — Germans  take  15,000  prisoners  in  drive.  May  29-— Germans 
take  Soissons  and  menace  Reims.     American  troops  capture  Cantigny.     May 

512 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

30 — Germans  reach  the  Marne,  fifty-five  miles  from  Paris.  May  31 — Germana 
take  45,000  prisoners  in  drive. 

June  1 — Germans  advance  nine  miles;  are  forty-six  miles  from  Paris. 
June  3 — Five  German  submarines  attack  U.  S.  coast  and  sink  eleven  shipjs. 
June  5 — U.  S.  marines  fight  on  the  Marne  near  Chateau  Thierry.  June  8 — 
Germans  start  fourth  phase  of  their  drive  by  advancing  toward  Noyon.  June 
10 — Germans  gain  two  miles.  U.  S.  marines  capture  south  end  of  Belleau 
wood. 

June  12 — French  and  Americans  start  counter  attack.  June  15 — Austrians 
begin  another  drive  on  Italy  and  take  16,000  prisoners.  June  17 — Italians 
check  Austrians  on  Piave  river.  June  19 — Austrians  cross  the  Piave.  June 
22 — Italians  defeat  Austrians  on  the  Piave.  June  23 — Austrians  begin  great 
retreat  across  the  Piave. 

July  18 — Gen.  Foch  launches  allied  offensive,  with  French,  American, 
British,  Italian  and  Belgian  troops.  July  21 — Americans  and  French  capture 
Chateau  Thierry.  July  30 — German  crown  prince  flees  from  the  Marne  and 
withdraws  army. 

August  2 — Soissons  recaptured  by  Foch.  Aug.  4 — Americans  take  Fismes. 
Aug.  5 — American  troops  landed  at  Archangel.  Aug.  7 — Americans  cross  the 
Vesle.     Aug.  16 — Bapaume  recaptured.     Aug.  28 — French  recross  the  Somme. 

September  1 — Foch  retakes  Peronne.  Sept.  12 — Americans  launch  success- 
ful attack  in  St.  Mihiel  salient.  Sept.  28 — Allies  win  on  250  mile  line,  from 
North  sea  to  Verdun.  Sept.  29 — Allies  cross  Hindenburg  line.  Sept.  30 — 
Bulgaria  surrenders,  after  successful  allied  campaign  in  Balkans.  October  1 — 
French  take  St.  Quentin.  Oct.  4 — Austria  asks  Holland  to  mediate  with  allies 
for  peace.  Oct.  5 — Germans  start  abandonment  of  Lille  and  burn  Douai.  Oct. 
6 — ^^Germany  asks  President  Wilson  for  arm.istice.  Oct.  7 — Americans  capture 
hills  around  Argonne.  Oct.  8 — President  Wilson  refuses  armistice.  Oct.  9 — 
Allies  capture  Cambrai.  0.ct.  10 — Allies  capture  Le  Cateau.  Oct.  11 — American 
transport  Otranto  torpedoed  and  sunk;  500  lost.  Oct.  13 — Foch's  troops  take 
Laon  and  La  Fere. 

October  14 — British  and  Belgians  take  Eoulers;  President  Wilson  demands 
surrender  by  Germany.  Oct.  15— British  and  Belgians  cross  Lys  river,  take 
12,000  prisoners  and  100  guns.  Oct.  16 — Allies  enter  Lille  outskirts.  Oct.  17 — 
Allies  capture  Lille,  Bruges,  Zeebrugge,  Ostend,  and  Douai.  Oct.  18 — Czecho- 
slovaks issue  declaration  of  independence;  Czechs  rebel  and  seize  Prague, 
captial  of  Bohemia;  French  take  Thielt. 

October  19 — President  Wilson  refuses  Austrian  peace  plea  and  says  Czecho- 
slovak state  must  be  considered.  Oct.  21 — Allies  cross  the  Oise  and  threaten 
Valenciennes.  Oct.  22 — Haig's  forces  cross  the  Scheldt.  Oct.  23 — President 
Wilson  refuses  latest  German  peace  plea.  Oct.  27 — German  government  asks 
President  Wilson  to  state  terms.    Oct,  28 — Austria  begs  for  separate  peace. 

October  29 — Austria  opens  direct  negotiations  with  Secretary  Lansing. 
Oct.  30 — Italians  inflict  great  defeat  on  Austria;  capture  33,000  Austrians  evac- 
uating Italian  territory.  Oct.  31 — Turkey  surr^enders;  Austrians  utterly  routed 
by  Italians;  lose  50,000;  Austrian  envoys,  under  white  flag,  enter  Italian  lines. 

November  1 — Italians  pursue  beaten  Austrians  across  Tagliamento  river; 
allied  conference  at  Versailles  fixes  peace  terms  for  Germany.  Nov.  3 — Austria 
signs  armistice  amounting  virtually  to  unconditional  surrender.  Nov.  4 — Allied 
terms  are  sent  to  Germany.  Nov.  7 — Germany's  envoys  enter  allied  lines  by 
arrangement. 

November  9 — Kaiser  Wilhelm  abdicates  and  crown  prince  renounces  throne. 
Nov.  10 — Former  Kaiser  Wilhelm  and  his  eldest  son,  Friedrick  WiJhelm,  fle« 
to  Holland  to  escape  widespread  revolution  throughout  Germany. 

513 


CEBONOLOGY  OF  THE  WORLD  WAR 

November  9 — Kaiser  Wilhelm  abdicates  and  crown  prince  renounces  throne. 
British  battleship  Britannia  torpedoed  and  sunk  by  German  submarine  off 
entrance  to  Straiti  of  Gibraltar.  Nov.  10 — Formeer  Kaiser  Wilhelm  and  his 
eldest  son,  Frederick  Wilhelm,  flee  to  Holland  to  escape  widespread  revolu- 
tion throughout  Germany.  King  of  Bavaria  abdicates.  Nov.  11 — Armis- 
tice signed  at  11  o'clock  a.  m.,  Paris  time.  Firing  ceased  on  all  fronts. 
An  American  battery  from  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  fired  last  shot  at 
exactly  11  o'clock  on  the  front  northwest  of  Verdun.  Germans  began  evacu- 
ation of  Belgium  and  Alsace-Lorraine. 

November  12 — German  republic  proclaimed  at  Berlin.  Emperor  Charles 
of  Austria  abdicates.  Belgium  demands  complete  independence  instead  of 
guaranteed  neutrality.  To  secure  status  as  a  belligerent  at  the  pease  council, 
Roumania  again  declares  war  on  Germany.  United  States  decides  to  feed  the 
German  people.  United  States  stops  draft  boards  and  lifts  war  restriction  of 
industries.  Nov.  13 — American  troops  cross  the  German  former  frontier  and 
enter  Alsace-Lorraine.  «« 

November  14 — Polish  troops  occupy  the  royal  palaces  in  Warsaw  and 
seize  telegraph  and  telephone  connections  with  Vienna.  United  States  loans 
another  hundred  million  dollars  to  Italy  for  food  supplies.  Dangerous  bolshevik 
disorders  in  Germany  and  Austria.    German  crown  prince  interned  in  Holland. 

November  15 — Distinguished  Service  Medal  conferred  on  General  Pershing 
at  his  headquarters  in  France  by  General  Tasker  H.  Bliss.  United  States 
Postoffice  department  takes  control  of  all  ocean  cable  lines,  consent  of  other 
governments  having  been  obtained.  Prof.  Thomas  G.  Masaryk  proclaimed 
President  of  the  new  Czecho-Slav  republic. 

November  16 — Copenhagen  reported  many  German  ships  due  for  surrender 
under  armistice  conditions.  Demobilization  of  United  States  troops  ordered  by 
the  government,  beginning  with  those  in  army  camps  at  home.  United  States 
takes  over  express  service.  Belgian  troops  enter  Brussels.  German  cruiser 
Wiesbaden  torpedoed  by  German  revolutionary  sailors,  with  loss  of  330  lives. 

November  17 — Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  American  troops  advance 
nine  miles  in  French  territory  evacuated  by  Germans.  French  armies  advance 
across  the  west  boundary  of  Alsace-Lorraine  and  occupy  many  towns.  People 
of  Luxemburg   demand  abdication   of  Grand   Duchess. 

November  18 — President  Wilson  decides  to  attend  the  peace  conference 
to  be  held  in  Europe.  French  occupy  Metz.  American  troops  reach  the  German 
border.  Britsh  troops  land  at  Gallipoli.  American  troops  defeat  bolshevik 
forces  at  Fulka,  on  the  river  Dvina.  United  States  government  takes  oyer 
German  insurance  companies'  agencies  in  America  to  be  sold  by  the  Custodian 
of  alien  property. 

November  29 — The  President  announced  names  of  commissioners  to  rep- 
resent the  United  States  at  peace  conference.  They  are:  Woodrow  Wilson, 
President  of  the  United  States;  Robert  Lansing,  Secretary  of  State;  Col. 
Edward  M.  House;  Henry  White,  former  ambassador  to  Italy  and  to  France, 
and  Gen.  Tasker  H.  Bliss,  American  adviser  of  the  supreme  war  council. 

December  4,  1918 — President  Wilson  and  a  numerous  staff  sailed  for 
Europe  from  New  York  aboard  the  George  Washington,  escorted  by  warships 
\inder  command  of  Admiral  Mayo,  to  attend  the  I'eace  ('nnference  at  Paris. 
See  the  Supplement  to  this  book  for  further  history  of  the  Great  War. 


Note. — Including  the  pages  of  Illustrations,  this  volume  contains  576  pages. 

514 


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